United States v. Pedro Jolio Prandy-Binett

The so-called “War on Drugs” has produced a gross distortion of the case law in our criminal jurisprudence.1 This case graphically illustrates the worst effects of this distortion.

This case is about the significance of “duct tape,” and whether its mere appearance on a portion of an unidentified package, without more, gives police officers probable cause to arrest a person. The majority, relying on a bizarre theory of “conditional probabilities,” holds that probable cause can be based on the appearance of duct tape. In so holding, the majority reverses the decision of the District Court, while…