High Court Rules for Kansas in Fourth Amendment Stop Dispute (2)

A Kansas man lost his Fourth Amendment claim at the U.S. Supreme Court in a traffic-stop case that the government warned had great public safety implications while defense and other advocacy groups raised social justice and privacy concerns.

At issue was whether a police officer violates the Fourth Amendment by initiating an investigative stop after running a vehicle’s license plate and learning that the registered owner has a revoked driver’s license.

“When the officer lacks information negating an inference that the owner is the driver of the vehicle, the stop is reasonable,” Justice Clarence Thomas wrote for the 8-1 majority ...