Court narrows searches of stopped vehicles

WASHINGTON, April 21 (UPI) -- The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 across ideological lines Tuesday to narrow the scope of police authority to search a vehicle once a driver has been arrested.

In a case out of Arizona, the narrow majority rejected a broad interpretation of Supreme Court precedent that would have allowed police to search a vehicle without a warrant after the driver was arrested, even if there was no possibility a suspect could gain access to the vehicle.

Instead, the majority ruled that a warrantless search could be conducted only if the arrested driver might still have access to the vehicle -- theoretically endangering police -- or if officers "reasonably believed" a vehicle contained evidence supporting the arrest.

The majority opinion was written by Justice John Paul Stevens, who was joined by fellow liberal Justices David Souter and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and by conservative Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas.

The case began in Tucson when Rodney Gant was arrested for driving with a suspended license, handcuffed and placed in a patrol car. Police, who had been called to the scene on a drug tip, searched his vehicle and found cocaine in the pocket of a jacket on the back seat. Gant was convicted after the trial judge refused to suppress the evidence. The Arizona Supreme Court said the search was unconstitutional and reversed the conviction. Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed.

(Arizona vs. Gant, No. 07–542)