NCJ Number
104338
Journal
Rutgers Law Journal Volume: 16 Issue: 3-4 Dated: (Spring-Summer 1985) Pages: 831-851
Date Published
1985
Length
21 pages
Annotation
A series of U.S. Supreme Court decisions should encourage police to undertake searches and seizures that might possibly yield evidence against organized crime figures, since the odds favor the Court's upholding almost any search that produces relevant evidence.
Abstract
In Rakas v. Illinois (1978), the U.S. Supreme Court held that a passenger in an automobile with the permission of the owner could not challenge the constitutionality of a search of that automobile. In United States v. Salvucci (1980), the Court held that in a prosecution for possession of a given item, the person accused of possession does not necessarily have standing to challenge the unconstitutional search that yielded the item. Rawlings v. Kentucky (1980) involved the Court's upholding a presumptively unconstitutional search of a purse belonging to Rawlings' companion, which yielded drugs belonging to Rawlings. In United States v. Payner (1980), the Court upheld the Internal Revenue Service's intentional violation of the fourth amendment rights of an individual to obtain evidence against another individual. Overall, the Court has upheld any search of one person to obtain evidence against another person. The Supreme Court has given the police reason to search the person and habitats of any individuals associated with organized crime to produce evidence against other persons. 109 footnotes.