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Cal.4: Stop by "roadblock" of illegal fisherman was unreasonable

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

A fish and game officer in California does not have the authority to conduct suspicionless inspections of a vehicle [a boat yes, a car no] for lobster taken out of season. Considering the stop as a roadblock, it was invalid because it was for general law enforcement purposes. People v. Maikhio, 2010 Cal. App. LEXIS 2 (4th Dept. January 5, 2010): Accordingly, “[t]here is a two-step analysis applicable to Fourth Amendment checkpoint cases. First, the court must ‘determine whether the primary purpose of the [checkpoint] was to advance “the general interest in crime control.'” [Citation.] ’If so, then the stop … is per se invalid under the Fourth Amendment.' [Citations.] [¶] If the checkpoint is not per se invalid as a crime control device, then the court must ‘judge [the checkpoint's] reasonableness, hence, its constitutionality, on the basis of the individual circumstances...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on January 07, 2010 (boomark / email).