oral arguments started this week, and justice scalia is back at being hilarious and awesome (in a “i disagree with you on every contentious issue” sort of way). in arizona v. gant, the two sides argue whether it’s ok to search the car of a person who has just been arrested for a minor violation and is already cuffed and secured in the back of a squad car.
the main justification for the search was that it was pragmatic; a safety measure. scalia went a step further.

Justice Scalia similarly asked both sides whether there was any historical – as opposed to pragmatic – justification for the rule. “If you stopped Thomas Jefferson’s carriage to arrest Thomas Jefferson and you pulled him off to the side of the road, could you – could you then go and search his carriage?” No one seemed to know.

the thought of thomas jefferson being thrown onto the side of his carriage, “cops”-style,” is hilarious to me.

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