Chief’s Counsel: Traffic Stops for Revoked Licenses
The 2020 U.S. Supreme Court Case, Kansas v. Glover
On April 6, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Kansas v. Glover, a Fourth Amendment case dealing with an illegal search and seizure claim. This case provides insight as to whether a law enforcement officer has reasonable suspicion to pull over a vehicle if the officer knows only that the vehicle’s registered owner has a revoked driver’s license, but the officer is unsure whether the registered owner is driving the vehicle. Under the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, police officers may initiate brief stops of drivers who they reasonably suspect are committing a crime. The outcome of this case has implications for drivers’ privacy, public safety, and the amount of discretion police officers possess in deciding when to stop a vehicle