State of Iowa v. Scottize Danyelle Brown

APPEL, Justice (dissenting).

Under article I, section 8 of the Iowa Constitution, can a police officer use a common minor traffic violation as an after-the-fact pretext to seize a vehicle and its passengers when the actual reason for the stop was constitutionally inadequate? Today's majority says yes. I say NO!

I. Summary.

History demonstrates that one of the fundamental purposes of search and seizure law is to cabin the discretion of police officers in choosing whom to subject to search and seizure. Generalized discretion in the hands of a law enforcement official has been anathema to the…