Supreme Court to Consider How and When Police Can Use Drug-Sniffing Dogs
Supreme Court to Consider How and When Police Can Use Drug-Sniffing Dogs
The US Supreme Court is going to the dogs on Wednesday in a pair of important cases that ask the justices to decide how and when police are able to use dogs specially trained to detect narcotics.
Both cases involve drug investigations in Florida, but their resolution could affect the use trained dogs across the United States.
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In both instances, the Florida Supreme Court issued rulings that make it harder for law-enforcement officials to use dogs to discover illicit drugs in a home or vehicle.
Prosecutors in Florida, the Obama administration, and more than 20 state attorneys general are urging the high court to overturn the Florida Supreme Court and establish bright-line rules allowing police to use dogs during traffic stops as well as at the front door of a private home.