ABSTRACT
In Atwater v. City of Lago Vista, 532 US 318, the US Supreme Court upheld the custodial arrest and jailing of a woman for a seat-belt violation that was punishable with only a $50 fine. The Court's five—four decision has been widely criticized because it gives police complete discretion to make unnecessary and disproportionate arrests. Justice David H. Souter's majority opinion admitted that the seat-belt offender's arrest was "pointless," and critics have found his reasons for upholding her arrest unpersuasive. Court dismissed a suit against two military police officers for roughly handling an animal rights protester who appeared at an event where the vice president was speaking. Atwater provides a clear example of the virtues of this approach: the facts and case-specific policy arguments were compelling, and the Court's broad grant of arrest power risks many unintended adverse consequences.
