Court Upholds Search of Suspicious Car

Re “High Court Backs Agent Who Stopped Motorist,” Jan. 16: The Supreme Court’s decision holding that in policing the drug war, cops can stop drivers for such vague, ambiguous and common behavior as slowing down when they see a police car, not making eye contact or letting their children wave at a passing police car ought to be a warning siren to all Americans that the war on drugs is having a devastating impact on the rights and freedoms of everyone--not just drug users.

Whether or not you use marijuana, the court’s ruling applies to you.

The 4th Amendment protection against unreasonable searches was once a strong and respected constitutional right. Unfortunately for all Americans the 4th Amendment is now all but a fairy tale, a historical remnant of the time before politicians and Supreme Court justices declared a “war on some drugs” and set out on a slash-and-burn campaign without limits.

Personally, I’d much rather live in a world where some people smoke marijuana than in a police state.

Richard Glen Boire

Davis, Calif.

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I was thoroughly horrified to read that the Supreme Court voted 9-0 to allow the police to stop a vehicle on the grounds of any “reasonable suspicion.” Now the 4th Amendment means nothing. We are at the mercy of every arbitrary whim of the police. I say it’s better that drug dealers get away than the innocent be subject to “reasonable suspicion” searches.

Yet what bothers me most is the 9-0 vote. Liberal Justices John Paul Stevens and Ruth Bader Ginsburg are traitors whose true agenda differs not at all from that of Chief Justice William Rehnquist and Justice Clarence Thomas.

Ray Martinez

Long Beach