Oregon Supreme Court Nixes Police Practice of Pulling Packages

Law enforcement agencies in Oregon can't pull packages from the mail to investigate whether they contain drugs or drug money, according to a ruling handed down last week by the Oregon Supreme Court.

While the law states that law enforcement agencies need a warrant to open an item of mail, Portland Police and other agencies have gotten around that by taking an item deemed suspicious and setting up a line up where a trained drug dog would compare the suspicious package with others.

Police have testified that they pull close to 36 packages a day and the dog is right close to 90 percent of the time.

In the case heard by the court, the defendant objected to the introduction of the evidence, saying it violated his right to be free from unlawful search and seizure.

When the judge agreed, prosecutors went to the Court of Appeals, which upheld the ruling. They then appealed to the Oregon Supreme Court, which last week also upseld the judge's ruling.

In short, the courts have said police should have sought a warrant ahead of time.