Pennsylvania Supreme Court Expands Police Power to Conduct Warrantless Car Searches

In a major victory for state law enforcement, the Pennsylvania
Supreme Court on Tuesday broadened the power of the police to
conduct warrantless motor vehicle searches.

At issue in
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. Gary was a 2010
traffic stop in Philadelphia where the officers claimed to detect
the smell of marijuana coming from the vehicle. The resulting
search turned up two pounds of the drug. According to the suspect,
Shiem Gary, his right to be free from unreasonable search and
seizure under Article One, Section Eight of the Pennsylvania
Constitution, which largely matches the text of the Fourth
Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, was violated by this
warrantless search of his vehicle.

Pointing to previous state court rulings, Gary argued that while
the U.S. Supreme Court does allow for warrantless car searches
based only on “probable cause,” the Pennsylvania high court has
imposed additional restrictions on law enforcement under the state
constitution that count in his favor. For example, if Pennsylvania
police are going to search a car without a warrant, they need both
probable cause and an “exigent circumstance,” such as evidence in
“plain sight” inside the car, or a threat posed to officers or the
public. The U.S. Supreme Court, by contrast, requires only probable
cause for warrantless car searches in identical scenarios under the
Fourth Amendment.

In its ruling this week, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court agreed
that its previous decisions in this area have been a “departure”
from the federal standard. But the court did not see that as a good
thing. Instead, it rejected what it called the state’s “fractured
jurisprudence” in order to adopt “the federal automobile exception
[to the Fourth Amendment], which requires only a finding of
probable cause, and no exigency beyond the inherent mobility of a
motor vehicle, to support a warrantless vehicle search.”

In effect, Pennsylvania has adopted a narrower standard and will
no longer offers its residents and visitors greater protection
against warrantless car searches by the police.