October 7, 2008

Supreme Court Hears Arguments on Bad Police Data

The Supreme Court hears arguments on the implications of police acting on their own inaccurate information. Police suspected that Herring, an Alabama resident, had a warrant. The police checked county records and finding no warrant checked a neighboring county which in error reported an outstanding warrant. Upon a search of Herring, as a result of the false warrant claim, he was found to be in possession of controlled substances. The case seeks a ruling from the court on whether the police can be insulated because they acted on erroneous information from a police county clerk. Criminal record database errors are further complicated by the practice of interlinking law enforcement databases.

Supreme Court Mull Whether Bad Databases Make for Illegal Searches, Wired News, October 4, 2008