NCJ Number
158174
Journal
Connecticut Law Review Volume: 27 Issue: 2 Dated: (Winter 1995) Pages: 699- 734
Date Published
1995
Length
36 pages
Annotation
Using the case of State v. Miller, this discussion focuses on two occasions that would justify State court departure from Federal precedent in favor of State constitutional law: (1) to clarify confusing Federal case law and (2) to increase the amount of privacy protection a State provides its citizens.
Abstract
The Miller decision interpreted State law as requiring a search warrant to search a vehicle impounded at a police station, in contrast to the 1970 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Chambers v. Maroney. The Miller decision demonstrated that abandoning Federal precedent enabled Connecticut to clarify its automobile search and seizure law for its State police and its courts. In addition, although the police reaction to the Miller decision is unknown, it is still possible to conclude that the decision will provide citizens increased privacy protection. Whether the police do not react to Miller or whether they increase the amount of warrantless roadside searches they perform, when the police impound a vehicle and a search warrant is denied, the Miller decision will protect citizens from unjustified warrantless searches that would have taken place prior to Miller. Thus, the Connecticut Supreme Court's departure from Federal precedent was unmistakably sound and justifiable. Footnotes