Yeah, was under the same impression. Pretty clear here, unless it was overturned.
http://www.erowid.org/freedom/courts...comment1.shtml
Quote:
Appellate Decision: State v. Carty
332 N.J. Super. 200 (App. Div. 2000)
[Decided March 4, 2002]
* Full Decision Text
* AP Story
In a 5-0 Decision on March 4, 2002, the New Jersey Supreme Court continued its nation-leading protection against police searches. The court decided, with 4 judges signing the primary decision and 1 writing a concurrence, that even with written consent police were not allowed to search the person or vehicle of someone stopped for a traffic violation without "reasonable, articulable suspicion" unrelated to the traffic violation for which the vehicle was stopped.
The New Jersey Court ruled on the basis of the New Jersey State Constitution and thus it is not reviewable by the federal Supreme Court. NJ has long had some of the most protective constitutional law regarding police searches during traffic stops. Until this ruling, the New Jersey police were required by the courts to have each person actually sign a consent document in order to allow traffic-stop searches. The consent documents were quite strongly worded, in an attempt to inform citizens that they had the right to refuse searches. The text of the consent document included:
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Quote:
The New Jersey Supreme Court goes on to be extremely clear about what they're saying and explicitly deny the use of consent-based searches without there being some evidence of a crime:
We agree with the Appellate Division that consent searches following a lawful stop of a motor vehicle should not be deemed valid under Johnson unless there is reasonable and articulable suspicion to believe that an errant motorist or passenger has engaged in, or is about to engage in, criminal activity. In other words, we are expanding the Johnson two-part constitutional standard and holding that unless there is a reasonable and articulable basis beyond the initial valid motor vehicle stop to continue the detention after completion of the valid traffic stop, any further detention to effectuate a consent search is unconstitutional. A suspicionless consent search shall be deemed unconstitutional whether it preceded or followed completion of the lawful traffic stop. The requirement of reasonable and articulable suspicion is derived from our State Constitution and serves to validate the continued detention associated with the search. It also serves the prophylactic purpose of preventing the police from turning a routine traffic stop into a fishing expedition for criminal activity unrelated to the stop. [NJ State vs Courty]
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Innocent until proven guilty, they would have to prove to the court that you were up to no good. If you were up to no good, then you is effed.