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srothstein wrote: I fully understand the argument that a motor vehicle is easily mobile so the search is justifiable without a warrant, IF there is probable cause.

Personally, I DON'T get that. What difference does it make if it's a car (or motorcycle or go-cart) and it's mobile? They had mobile vehicles and transportation that could outrun other mobile vehicles and transportation of that time back when the 4th Amendment was written and ratified. The 4th says, in part: "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated..." It does NOT say: "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, UNLESS THEY ARE ON A FAST HORSE THAT MIGHT OUTRUN THE POLICE."

I believe that many of our enumerated Constitutional rights have been tweaked, twisted, confined, restrained and diluted by passage of so many additional laws, and by the mental contortions of activist judges over the years, that some of those "rights" seem to be almost nonexistent at this point.

Sorry, srothstein, not picking on you. It's just that the great divide between the simple and elegant statements of affirmation of our rights - as laid out in the Constitution - versus many of the modern day, heavy-handed restrictions of those rights is sort of a pet peeve of mine.

Ok, stepping off my soapbox now. Carry on.

For what they're worth, my ideas are embedded in the abbreviated quote below:

rotor wrote:Issue
1. Does a police officer need a warrant to walk onto your property that is not gated? I would say no. ... I guess I'm not getting what difference it would make if the property were gated or not, it's still private property. So if there was a gate, a policeman could not enter, but if not gated, he could? What if there were a gate, but the gate was open? OK or not? What if it were your house, and the front door was open? Would you be ok with a policeman just walking in and start looking around inside your house? After all, the door was open.
2. Does lifting a tarp once the suspect motorcycle was spotted in the open in a non-gated property, easily accessible to anyone need a search warrant? I don't believe a warrant was needed. Had the tarp been chained and locked to the cycle that would have been different... If you accidentally leave your car or truck unlocked sitting in your driveway, you're ok if you see a policeman inside your vehicle digging through the glove compartment and looking under the seats?
4. Do you have a "right to privacy" when your vehicle or other material goods are openly available to the public?... I say yes, I do have a right to privacy on my own private property. (Granted, that right may not be respected, but I would hope that I'm still legally entitled to that right). Isn't that sort of part of the idea of private property - that it's PRIVATE? If you think not, then I'm to assume that you're ok for anyone (police or other private citizen) to walk onto your front yard, check out your landscaping or your house trim or windows or whatever else they want to look at?

Rotor, no disrespect intended; it's just that we apparently have different ideas, and I'm just trying to understand your viewpoints by injecting these hypotheticals.