I would say that impounding of a vehicle is fine, since if someone is under arrest, you need to do something with the vehicle. What should not be fine is searching the car once it has been impounded, since the 4th amendment should apply here.
"The right of the people to be secure in their persons,
houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and
seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue,
but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and
particularly describing the place to be searched, and the
persons or things to be seized."
The car should constitute an "effect" and just because it happens to be in the possession of the police, does not mean that it should be searchable by the police without a warrant describing the car as the place to be searched, the probably cause upon which they are basing the warrant (failure to yield to a pedestrian shouldn't even be admissible as a cause for search) and the things to be seized.
It would look mighty ridiculous if the police arrested someone for a moving violation based on parallel construction or this new tactic and then tried to get a warrant for searching the car based on that fact.
Simply enforcing fourth amendment rights even for articles and effects in police custody should be enough to protect people for these absurd tactics.
I like your idea, but I don't know if it is feasible. There are lots of good reasons why cops should be allowed to search an impounded vehicle. Most notably safety, since who knows what you carry in your car.
Again I support the concept, I am just unsure if there are wrinkles in the implementation or not.
There are lots of good reasons why cops should be allowed to search an impounded vehicle. Most notably safety, since who knows what you carry in your car.
There's no reason why cops need to search a car "for safety". Someone who is not a LEO could easily do it, if as a society we think its worth the cost, and at the same time, those people can be banned from speaking to LEO's about whatever it is they find in the car (including drugs).
It would look mighty ridiculous if the police arrested someone for a moving violation based on parallel construction or this new tactic and then tried to get a warrant for searching the car based on that fact.
Simply enforcing fourth amendment rights even for articles and effects in police custody should be enough to protect people for these absurd tactics.