Law Commons^™

Recent Case, Ninth Circuit Considers Community's Racial Tension With Police In Finding Illegal Seizure And Lack Of Voluntary Consent. — United States V. Washington, 490 F.3d 765 (9th Cir. 2007), Portia Pedro

Faculty Scholarship

The traditional story of Fourth Amendment search and seizure doctrine involves a complex compromise between public safety and the constitutional right to personal liberty. Although the choice of viewpoint is often left out of the story, much also depends on whose perspective — police officers’ or civilians’ — a judge employs for search and seizure determinations. The chosen perspective circumscribes the types of facts that a judge considers in these evaluations. In United States v. Washington, the Ninth Circuit held that the district court should have suppressed evidence obtained through a vehicle search because the consent was not voluntary, or, …