WASHINGTON – A split U.S. Supreme Court gave cops the green light yesterday to arrest and jail anyone who commits a no-no like driving without a seat belt or littering.
The case involved a Texas soccer mom who was jailed briefly after she unbuckled her two young kids – a state misdemeanor that carries a $50 fine – so they could search for a lost toy.
The dissenting justices in the 5-4 ruling warned that upholding the cops’ right to lock up anyone they see breaking traffic or other petty laws creates “potentially serious consequences for the everyday lives of Americans.”
Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, a swing vote who sided with the high court’s three biggest liberals, also warned of the “grave potential for abuse,” especially racial profiling by cops.
Police “will be able to stop people on any pretext when they suspect them of other things . . . They will go after the usual suspects, blacks and Hispanics in cars and young men in groups,” agreed Columbia University law professor Vivian Berger.
The decision that warrant-less arrests don’t violate Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable seizure was one of two conservative rulings yesterday.
In another 5-4 vote, the high court made it easier for states to pass English-only laws, ruling that a Mexican immigrant who wasn’t allowed to take her Alabama driver’s test in Spanish couldn’t use the 1964 federal civil-rights law to sue the state.
“This will encourage more states” to pass English-only laws, predicted Rep. Pete King (R-L.I.), who has tried to get Congress to pass a national version.
In the Texas case, the majority – led by Justice David Souter, a liberal who teamed up with the four top conservatives – cited English common law that permitted arrest for such offenses as negligent carriage-driving and cursing.
Souter, who rejoined the liberal wing in the English-only case while O’Connor sided with the conservative majority, agreed that Gail Atwater’s arrest in front of her two hysterical kids was a “pointless indignity,” but said most cops showed “good sense.”
Conservative law scholar Bruce Fein said anyone unfairly arrested can still sue under state laws or turn to 14th Amendment protections against selective prosecution.