Cultivating a "Condition Yellow" mindset

Arizona v. Johnson, via the Volokh Conspiracy:

This morning the Supreme Court handed down the decision in a unanimous opinion by Justice Ginsburg. The Court limited its opinion to how this power applies in a traffic stop setting. It held first that the Terry v. Ohio power to detain is met in a traffic stop setting "whenever it is lawful for police to detain an automobile and its occupants pending inquiry into a vehicular violation." Second, "To justify a patdown of the driver or a passenger during a traffic stop, however, just as in the case of a pedestrian reasonably suspected of criminal activity, the police must harbor reasonable suspicion that the person subjected to the frisk is armed and dangerous." That is, the police can pat-down the passenger in a lawful traffic stop if the passenger is reasonably suspected of being dangerous regardless of what other crimes are suspected.

The commentary on Orin Kerr's analysis is worth a read, even if just for familiarity with some of the jargon and finer points of application. Although it is uncomfortable to think about, it is likely that having the knowledge will be of practical use sooner rather than later, considering the general mitigation of civil liberties in this forced amalgamation of vassal-states.

Furthermore, even though these have made the rounds on the 'Net more times than Rick Astley, I believe there isn't a bad time to repost them:





I would also recommend picking up a copy of You & The Police. Although the last printing was in 2005, the information is still useful, despite aggressive movement in the interim towards a more restrictive State.