"Citizens generally have no idea when they have to do what an officer tells them to do, and I would think there is some sort of Due Process requirement of fair notice that the order has to be obeyed before an arrest can be made."
--Orin Kerr, Volokh.com
Wouldn't most people assume by default that they have to do what a police officer tells them to do any time a police officer tells them to do something? I'm not saying that's actually true, nor ought it be, but I think people are far more likely to obey in situations where they didn't realize they had a right to say no than vice versa.
I should emphasize of course that the D.C. checkpoint plan is blatantly unconstitutional, not to mention against everything America stands for ("papers please!").
Posted by Matt Bruce at June 6, 2008 11:08 AMI assume that's kind of the point though. It's probably a good idea to know the situations when you have to do what a police officer tells you to do. I know that I'm contrarian but it seems like a poor idea to just assume that people in authority have the power to tell you what to do in any given situation.
I suppose it's worth noting as well that although an arrest comes with a lot of hassle it's not a conviction and the fact that you've been arrested doesn't mean that you've done anything wrong.
Posted by: Hyph at June 9, 2008 08:37 AM