Dog Day Afternoon

Yesterday, the Supreme Court heard oral argument in a case about sniffing dogs. Specifically, the issue is whether a police officer with his drug sniffing dog can walk around a person's car snorting for drugs during a routine traffic stop. The defendant in yesterday's case was pulled over in Illinois for doing 71 in a 65 zone (ouch!). While the cop who pulled him over wrote a warning, another cop (after hearing about the pull-over on the radio) went to the scene with his drug dug, who alerted to the trunk. Sure enough, the guy was carrying pot (12 years worth, apparently). Dahlia Lithwick amusingly recounts the argument yesterday, pointing out the dog or cat personae of the participants. From what I've read of the briefs (I haven't made it to the Underdog, Scooby Doo, McGruff amicus brief yet - written by Harvey Birdman, presumably), the dogs will indeed have their day.