Published on: Thursday, December 21, 2023
Pennsylvania police officer stops a black man for minor traffic violations. The cop first does a routine warrant check, which turns up nothing, but then spends an additional couple of minutes on a criminal-history check on the driver and passenger, discovering both have criminal histories. He goes back to the car, orders the driver out, and frisks him, discovering a firearm. He arrests the driver, who argues that the stop should have ended after the warrant check. Third Circuit: This was fine. Concurrence: I'm compelled by precedent to agree, but um, I also think the cop would not have dug deeper into the criminal history of a white driver.
The case is United States v. Hunter, No. 21-03316 (3d Cir. Dec. 5, 2023).