News Release
SJC To Consider Challenge to Broad Police Power to Search
ACLU argues that authority to conduct searches in absence of a lawful stop reduces constitutional protections in minority neighborhoods
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 4, 2009
CONTACT:
Christopher Ott, Communications Director, 617-482-3170 x322, cott@aclum.org
BOSTON -- On Thursday, November 5, 2009, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court will hear two cases in which it is being asked to overrule a 1991 decision giving the police extensive power to search.
WHAT
SJC hearing in Commonwealth v. Martin and Commonwealth v. Narcisse
WHEN
Thursday, November 5, 2009, 9am
WHERE
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
John Adams Courthouse, One Pemberton Square, Boston
Courtroom One, Second Floor
The original case involves interpretation of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Terry v. Ohio, holding that police are entitled to stop someone for questioning where they have reasonable suspicion that the person is involved in criminal activity, and--if there is reason to believe that the suspect is armed and dangerous--to conduct a search for weapons. In the 1991 case, Commonwealth v. Fraser, the state's high court expanded this authority, holding that police could conduct a "protective search" even where there is no basis for a lawful stop, effectively permitting a search anytime an officer could identify a concern for safety.
The American Civil Liberties Union argues in a friend-of-the-court brief joined by the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute that such searches, conducted in the absence of a lawful stop, violate the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and Article 14 of the Massachusetts Constitution.
Because police have claimed, in both cases, that the search was justified because the encounter took place in a "high crime area," the ACLU brief also urges the court to require specific evidence to support such claims. Reliance on the fact that an incident took place in a high-crime area has historically been used to justify more extensive authority to search in minority neighborhoods, and has for that reason been widely criticized.
For more information about the SJC hearing, see:
http://ma-appellatecourts.org/display_calendar.php?dtp=fc
For the ACLU of Massachusetts amicus brief in Commonwealth v. Martin, see:
http://www.aclum.org/legal/commonwealth_v_martin/brief.pdf
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