An officer stops a car for illegally tinted windows. Teen driver is unlicensed and his 22-year-old passenger has a joint on his lap. Do you search the car? What’s your rationale? Is it legal since the passenger is 22? Is a joint an open container?…

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed in part and reversed in part in a 2024 Las Vegas case where an obviously mentally ill man died after officers used their body weight on his neck and back to subdue him.

Court reinforces that the duration of a traffic stop is measured from the time of the stop until a driver is released or new reasonable suspicion is developed. The decision clarifies that pretextual stops are permitted under California Vehicle Code…

An inventory search of a legally impounded vehicle must be limited to establishing an inventory of its contents – but a warrantless inventory search of a vehicle done specifically to look for evidence of criminal wrongdoing violates the Fourth…

The Ninth Circuit’s decision in a Los Angeles auto-theft case restricts the use of high-risk vehicle stops based solely on an officer's belief that the vehicle is stolen, ruling that officers must have specific reasons to believe the occupants…