Police perjury in the Fourth Amendment context is
widespread and well-documented. (Read pages 547-48 of this article, and pages 472-73 of this article, for details.) In a nutshell, if a cop tells a judge that he
saw, heard, or smelled something that aroused his suspicion, most judges will uphold
any police search and look the other way on Fourth Amendment violations. But not Judge Guolee of Milwaukee. He’s not afraid to “call bullshit” when he
sees (or smells) it. In State v. Jackson, the defendant
challenged a police search of his vehicle's trunk and the judge held a hearing. At that hearing, the cop testified that he
was legally justified in searching the trunk because he could
smell the marijuana. But instead of
rubber-stamping the testimony and automatically finding that there was no Fourth
Amendment violation, Judge Guolee had about enough. Here’s what he said:
