Can police officers do a strip and body cavity search without just cause?
361101
When a persons been arrested he is subject to search incident to that arrest. The search requires no warrant. Who did he ask for a lawyer? It's not the policeman's responsibility to provide the lawyer it's the court that does that. As far as having "grounds" he was under arrest, the officer doesn't need grounds! The search is justified because he is arrested. Whether anything was found has no bearing on whether or not the search was justified. This is the law, the Supreme Court has upheld it. We appreciate the service to our country but that has nothing do do with the crime he was arrested for.\nFurthermore since this person was arrested for filing a false report "lying" how much of his story should we actually believe?
312063
WHAT?\n\nIf you are asked for permission to search your car, and you decline to give permission to have your car searched, that does NOT provide probable cause.  What a ridiculous notion.  It is your right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure, and merely exercising that right does not give the government probable cause to conduct it.  What kind of sense would that make?\n\nThe answer to your question, quite simply, is yes.  There are many reasons why the police might be able to legally search your vehicle without your permission, and if you've got a specific circumstances you're wondering about, post it and we'll see.\n\nProbable cause is one of the ways the police can search your car, and yes - the police get to decide that right there on the spot.  It's always subject to litigation later in court, but the police are allowed to search a vehicle under almost all conditions where probable cause is present.\n\nThere's a comment here about "Nope, but, it's your right to stop them if they do" and if that person is suggesting that you physically try to stop a police officer from searching your car, you're going to learn real quick that that isn't acceptable.  You always have the right to say no...always...even with a warrant, but that doesn't mean your wishes will be honored.  And if you try to physically enforce your wishes, I can just about guarantee you a really quick trip to the pokey.\n\nPolice cannot just impound your vehicle until you consent.  Equally ridiculous notion.  Given probable cause, police do not need to impound your vehicle and can just search it right there.\n\nMy answers are based on the Constitution and California law.  Iowa cannot make it any easier for the police than the Constitution does, but they can make it more restrictive.  I'd be willing to bet the rules are the same in Iowa, though.\n\nEDIT 4.26.06:\n\nDo we sometimes search "just because"?  Well, "just because" isn't a legal theory that allows a search, so we'd be wrong to search without your permission just because we chose to.  With your permission, however, we certainly could search "just because," and I suppose I have when I've had the hairs on the back of my neck stand up and I've received consent.
7265
no. the police can not force you to take a blood test.
298531
Yes you can.\n\nYou can decline to give permission to have your vehicle searched, but you can legally be detained for 24 hours without being charged with a crime.  This gives law enforcement more than enough time to get a warrant to search your car.  \n\nOnce they have a warrant, they do not need your consent.
125177
US Boarder Patrol are Federal Law Enforcement Officers, they have Federal power of arrest.\n\nUnless they are doing regular road blocks doing spot checks and the such,  they will need "reasonal suspection" to do a traffic stop.  Reasonable cause is what is needed for a search warrant,\n\nBut honestly beleive me as a past law enforcement officer, I can pick almost any vechile that passes and there is something either on or about the vechile that would allow it to be stoped, and if not, within 2 miles of following them they will do something wrong.\n\nAnd of course if the claim you were crossing the yellow line, who is going to not beleive them
212824
Not sure what your question means, but...\n\nGenerally there is no punishment for individual officers conducting an illegal search.  However, under the 4th and 14th amendments to the U.S. Constitution, any evidence arising from an illegal search cannot be used in court against the individual whose rights were violated (i.e. the person whose property was searched).  It is a fundamental principle in criminal law called the Exclusionary Rule.  It indirectly punishes and deters unreasonable searches.
670127
Well unless you are being a naughty person, you shouldn`t care if the police have your fingerprints or not.\nLook at it this way if fingerprints are found at a crime scene and you are innocent, then the police will be able to eliminate you from their inquiry's straight away if they have your fingerprints on record.
181043
Medical information is supposed to be confidential, but there are some exceptions.  One of them is that doctors are obliged to report on the victims of domestic violence or child abuse, and presumably rape more generally, at least if the patient is unconscious and cannot say they don't want it reported.\n\nSuch a report might indeed result in a warrantless search if the threat to life and safety was imminent.  There may be other exceptions to the doctor/patient confidentiality rules regarding drugs; I don't know.
629816
I have no idea what your question is but every highway patrolman in our state have machines that locate large sums of money in cars. They are used to locate drug money. That is what the strips in large bills are for.
203448
Way too vague for an answer. Give us more details.\n\n**EDIT AFTER DETAILS***\n\nI assume the court order is signed by a judge. If it is, then it is like a search warrant. Yes, there are search warrants for things inside people's bodies (think drugs or blood.) \n\nThe police are now even issuing arrest warrants on DNA samples. If the police have a murder or rape suspect that they don't know the name of, they can issue a search warrant if they have the suspect's DNA profile. This is usually done when the statute of limitations is nearing and they don' want to go without filing charges.
602570
I read this question, chuckled a little, and kept on reading other questions.  \n\nThen I just had to come back.\n\nThe Patriot Act, for the fanatics out there, has absolutely nothing to do with this question or situation.  If the cop in this question legally searched the car, he did so based on law much, MUCH older than the Patriot Act.  The Patriot Act does not give law enforcement "free reign in the search and seizure of private citizens' personal property at any time" though I know it's a lot more fun to believe that garbage and spread it around.\n\nAs for the actual question you're asking, it's not possible to give you an answer without knowing more details.  If the cop had probable cause to believe it was there (generally by smelling it, or maybe seeing a roach in the ashtray), or received consent from your friend (people give consent all the time when it's not in their best interest to do so), then the search is perfectly legal.\n\nA broken tail light, at least in California, might very well still work...but if white light is emitted, it's just as illegal as if it didn't work at all.  Evidently, it's the same in Texas.\n\nAnd if the search is determined by the court to be unlawful, then of course your friend can have the charge thrown out.\n\nCops can't search a vehicle just because they "think something is wrong"...we almost always have to have probable cause, and just "thinking" something isn't the same as having probable cause.\n\nFederal law (to my knowledge) does not require a search warrant to search a car, but the US Constitution provides that searches conducted without a warrant are presumptively unlawful.  However, Courts (to include the Supreme Court) routinely permit certain types of searches to be conducted without search warrants and have for dozens of years.\n\nYour friend certainly should seek the advice of an attorney, but I haven't ever heard the information about public defenders being top of their class....strikes me as a little hard to believe in some cases.
917061
Boy.  There are a lot of people answering this question who really don't know the rules in this country.  I speak from 11 years of law enforcement experience, many of those specifically developing traffic offenses into greater crimes.  So people don't think I am feeding you a line of police BS, I included the laws that established each of the rights and reasons to search.  Feel free to research them yourself so you can see I am giving you the straight scoop.\n\nThere are many times when the police can search your entire car, including your trunk, glove box, and even locked containers within your car, without a warrant.  I'll lay out four of the most common techniques I use to search cars.\n\n(1) Consent.  Can't go wrong here.  If you ask for consent to search and the driver (or person in charge of the vehicle) gives you consent, you can search the entire vehicle.  The consenting party has the authority to withdraw their consent and/or limit the areas you can search.\n\nOn reasons (2) through (4) consent makes no difference.  If the police can meet one of these requirements, they will legally search your car with or without your consent.\n\n(2) Probable Cause.  If you develop probable cause during a traffic stop, you may search the vehicle without a warrant.  This is commonly called the "motor vehicle exception" to the search warrant rule.  The authority for the police to do so was first established under a US supreme court case called Carroll v. United States.  The courts have since expanded on this case and allowed the police to search items within the vehicle regardless of who claims ownership of the items.  Under this technique, the police can only search areas where it is reasonable to believe the contraband they are searching for may be found.  For example, if the police believe they are lookng for a rifle, they would not be able to search a purse.  However, if they find the rifle and now believe they might be looking ammunition, the search of the purse is good.\n\n(3) Pursuant to arrest.  If the police arrest you for a bookable offense while operating a motor vehicle, they may search the areas under your control (including the passenger compartment and possibly other areas of the car) for contraband or weapons that you may have discarded.  This authority is established under case law named Chimel v. California.\n\n(4) Inventory search - If the police have the authority to tow your car, they may search it under the premise that they need to inventory all items contained within the car prior to towing the car.  These searches were upheld under the community caretaking doctrine established under South Dakota v. Opperman.\n\nThere are other ways to get into a car.  Too many to go into here.  Truthfully, there is almost NEVER a time when the police need a warrant to search a car.  In my 11 years, I think I have obtained a warrant for two or three of the probably 1000 cars I have searched, and those cars were firmly secured in the police impound lot pending the warrant.\n\nHope this settles your dispute.
1143597
No you don't have to take a lie detector test. They aren't valid, or correct anyway!\n\nUnfortunately, many police depts don't know how to investigate. What they do is rely on the Lie Detector to base their opinion on whether to charge you or not!\n\nThat is no Investigation, that's pure BS!!
962054
Besides officer safety, using a flashlight to search and examine a crime scene serves several legitimate investigative purposes.  I have been a cop for 11 years - 3 1/2 of those years have been as a detective - and can give some real life examples.\n\n(1) OBLIQUE LIGHTING - Sometimes light applied from different angles makes something more visible.  Here is an example you can try at home.  Go outside at night and step in the dirt.  You will leave behind a shoe print.  Take a bright flashlight and shine it down on that footprint from straight above.  You will see that the detail of the footprint is washed out by the bright light.  Now, take the same light down to almost ground level and shine it along the ground over the footprint.  You will see how the ridges and details in the footprint become much more visible.  This technique works with fingerprints too!\n\n(2) FOCUSED FIELD OF VIEW - Searching an otherwise dark area is often helpful in finding small items as it allows you to focus on the small area illuminated by the flashlight rather than to focus on a much large, more widely illuminated area.  Here's another way to illustrate this principle.  When you look at a whole page in a "Where's Waldo" book, Waldo is hard to find.  Now take a toilet paper roller and look at the same page through the tube like a telescope.  Move the tube around the page.  You will see that, once Waldo falls into your field of view, he will stand out much more plainly due to the much smaller "focused" field of view.\n\nUsing a flashlight rather than touching the switches, walls, etc., also ensures that any fingerprints, DNA evidence, etc., that may be present in the area you might touch will not be disturbed.
554911
I believe the police should be allowed to do whatever is necessary to stop crime.  Why should someone object to being searched if they have nothing to hide?
1041391
no but i bet the police would like to know
411646
No, the police can't legally stop you "just because"...there must be at least be something known as reasonable suspicion.\n\nHowever, I have almost no idea what your question is because of the way you wrote it.  Any chance you can turn it into something that makes a little more sense?