How probable is probable cause?
One of the most fundamental Fourth Amendment principles is that warrantless searches and arrests must be based on probable cause. But what exactly does “probable cause” metal? Maryland v. Pringle seemed to present the U.S. Supreme Court with a hoary law school hypothetical brought to life on the streets of Baltimore: whether probable cause can exist when two or more people are suspected of a crime that only one could have committed. In December, the unanimous Court ruled that probable cause can exist in such a situation, but it based its decision on the …