State v. Smith

We are facing a plague in our land as a result of drug abuse. The reaction of our leaders to this plague has been dramatic and in the main appropriate. However, the stability of American society rests on the fact that we are a nation of laws. The courts are sworn to defend our most fundamental laws— the state and federal Constitutions.

The majority well nigh concedes that appellant’s Fourth Amendment rights were violated, but shrugs this intrusion off because of the greater value of stern law enforcement with respect to the war against trafficking in dangerous drugs. Such an approach is…