SCOTUSblog by Evan Lee 11/5/2019
Can a police officer have reasonable suspicion to make a traffic stop solely on the basis that the registered owner of a vehicle has a suspended or revoked license? During Monday’s oral argument in Kansas v. Glover, several justices seemed to take the position that this information, combined with simple common sense, is enough to satisfy the Fourth Amendment, while several others seemed to think something more is required. By the end of the hearing, the looming question was what that something might be.
According to a joint stipulation of facts by the parties, Sheriff’s Deputy Mark Mehrer saw a 1995 Chevy 1500 pickup one morning near Lawrence, Kansas, and ran a check on the registration. He had not witnessed any traffic violations. He learned that the truck belonged to Charles Glover, whose license had been revoked. Although Mehrer did not see who was driving, he assumed it was Glover, the registered owner. In fact, Glover was driving, and he was subsequently charged as a habitual violator for driving with a revoked license.
At trial, Glover moved to suppress all the evidence derived from the traffic stop, claiming that the stop violated the Fourth Amendment because Mehrer lacked reasonable suspicion that a crime had been committed. (Mehrer did not testify at trial.) The trial judge suppressed the evidence, and the Kansas Supreme Court eventually upheld the suppression order. The state court determined that, without additional evidence, Mehrer’s assumption that the owner was driving was unjustified.
More:
https://www.scotusblog.com/2019/11/argument-analysis-justices-seem-divided-over-evidence-needed-to-make-investigatory-stop/
