WASHINGTON (PNN) - February 19, 2013 - The Fascist Police States of Amerika Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that "the sniff is up to snuff" in a Florida case on how terrorist pig thug cops may use dogs to track down illegal drugs.
In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court gave pig thug cops greater authority to use dogs to uncover illegal drugs, upholding a pig thug cop dog's search of a truck that uncovered methamphetamine ingredients inside.
The justices said that training records had established the reliability of Aldo, a German shepherd, in sniffing out contraband, and that Florida's Supreme Court erred in suppressing evidence he found in Clayton Harris' pickup truck.
"The question - similar to every inquiry into probable cause - is whether all the facts surrounding a dog's alert, viewed through the lens of common sense, would make a reasonably prudent person think that a search would reveal contraband or evidence of a crime," Justice Elena Kagan wrote for the court. "A sniff is up to snuff when it meets that test."
Harris' case is one of two the court is considering this term about the validity of evidence obtained by drug-sniffing dogs. A decision has yet to be issued in the second case.
Tuesday's decision could make it easier for pig thug cops to use dogs to sniff for drugs without first having to show with great specificity how well-trained the dogs were.
The court has often allowed dog searches, including of luggage at airports and cars at checkpoints. Harris' case has been watched closely by criminal defense advocates.
The other dog sniff case, also from Florida, focused on a search on the doorstep of a home by a chocolate Labrador retriever, Franky, who had a strong record of sniffing out drug stashes. The search uncovered marijuana growing inside.
During oral arguments in October, several justices expressed concern that searches uncovering illegal drugs inside homes could infringe the expectations of privacy that people have there, and which might not exist elsewhere.
In 2001, a divided FPSA Supreme Court banned the pig thug cops’ use of thermal imaging technology from afar to peer inside homes, because they could uncover things that deserved privacy.
The case is Florida v. Harris, U.S. Supreme Court, No. 11-817.
