Civil Rights
Block on Trump's Asylum Ban Upheld by Supreme Court
The Supreme Court decided to go big this week, drawing in Court-watchers with the only topic that could actually get people excited about the law after a three-day weekend.
That's right, folks. We've got a puppy decision.
Tuesday morning, the Supreme Court inadvertently sealed Aldo's win as the latest FindLaw Top Dog when it issued a unanimous decision in the German Shepherd's favor in Florida v. Harris.
In Harris, Florida cops enlisted Aldo to conduct a "free air sniff" around Clayton Harris' truck after discovering the Harris had an expired tag and an open container. (The cops had asked for permission to search the vehicle, but Harris refused.) After Aldo alerted, police searched Harris' vehicle and found 200 pseudoephedrine pills and 8,000 matches, (which are ingredients for methamphetamine), according to Reuters.
The Florida Supreme Court tossed Aldo's findings because the state had not demonstrated Aldo's reliability as a drug detector with evidence of his training, certification and performance, and his handler's experience. The Supreme Court, in a decision written by Justice Elena Kagan, concluded that the cops had probable cause to search Harris' truck because training and testing records supported Aldo's reliability in detecting drugs and Harris failed to undermine that evidence. According to Kagan, "the sniff [was] up to snuff."
Those of you keeping track of the term at home on your SCOTUS-pup scorecard will recall that the Nine actually heard two pooch cases back in October. The other case, Florida v. Jardines, involves the constitutionality of a warrantless drug sniff outside of a home.
That case is still pending, but there were three more SCOTUS opinions today (albeit not of the canine-themed variety).
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