PA Supreme Court Holds That PA Constitution Offers Greater Privacy Protections Than The Federal Constitution, and That Warrantless Automobile Searches Require Both Probable Cause and Exigent Circumstances
On December 22, 2020, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in Commonwealth v. Alexander overruled its 2014 plurality decision in Commonwealth v. Gary and reaffirmed its prior decisions holding that Article 1, Section 8 of the Pennsylvania Constitution provides greater privacy protections to motorists than the 4th Amendment to the United States Constitution. Specifically, the PA Supreme…