Wyoming Nights

Scalia, however, presses a good case too far when he argues that a person has a reduced expectation of privacy for containers in a car because the car is "exposed to traffic accidents that may render all their contents open to public scrutiny." This is a silly assertion. Do I have a reduced expectation of privacy for the contents of my pockets as I walk along a public sidewalk because of the possibility that I may be rendered unconscious in an accident and someone may search my pockets for identification? Do I have a reduced expectation of privacy in my house because a fire may expose the contents to the public?

By and large news accounts have not fully explained the Court's decision. As a result the public is probably less sanguine about search and seizure rules than it needs to be. In any case for the time being, the moral to this story is that if you must carry contraband, carry it in your pocket.

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