Cop’s License-Plate Database Search Passes Constitutional Muster

A police officer didn’t violate a defendant’s reasonable expectation of privacy by accessing the Department of Justice’s license-plate reader database before beginning a vehicle search that led to the discovery of illegal fentanyl, a federal court ruled.

J.T. Toombs III argued that the database search violated his Fourth Amendment rights and rendered the officer’s search of his vehicle illegal, but Judge Corey L. Maze of the US District Court for the Northern District of Alabama disagreed in a Wednesday order.

Maze denied Toombs’ motion to suppress the evidence found in the search, adopting the report and recommendations of Magistrate ...