William Baude on United States v. Johnson

Ordinary Investigative stop, or “Extraordinary” and Unlawful Police Tactics?

In addition to the Title VII sexual orientation case I just posted about, the Seventh Circuit will also hear en banc arguments tomorrow in United States v. Johnson, a criminal case that is the real reason I am going to the arguments tomorrow.

In a nutshell, police saw a vehicle stopped at a crosswalk, pulled two vehicles up next to it and shined bright lights on it, then saw a passenger trying to hide a gun which turned out to be unlawfully possessed by a felon. The question is whether there was a Fourth Amendment violation that justifies excluding some of the evidence. Judge Easterbrook’s opinion for the panel is short and covers a lot of ground, but near as I can tell there are three separate issues.

Read more at The Volokh Conspiracy