“Reasonable under the Fourth Amendment requires a careful balancing of ‘the nature and quality of the intrusion on the individual's Fourth Amendment interests' against the countervailing governmental interests at stake.” Graham v. Connor , 490 U.S. 386, 396 (1989).

“The police power of a state … is subordinate to constitutional limitations. Under it there is no unrestricted authority to accomplish whatever the public may presently desire. It is the governmental power of self-protection and permits reasonable regulation of rights and property in particulars essential to the preservation of the community from injury.” Panhandle Eastern Pipeline Co. v. Highway Comm'n, 294 U.S. 613, 622 (1935).

It is reasonable for the police to seize marijuana because it is illegal. This is not justifiction for a criminal law.

The question is whether it is reasonable to criminalize the private cultivation, possession and use of marijuana which allows the police to seize your person and property for violating the marijuana laws.

Are the marijuana laws reasonable? The State has the constitutional authority to make reasonable laws.The Maine Constitution says:

“The Legislature … shall have full power to make and establish all reasonable laws and regulations.” (Me. Const. Art. IV, pt 3, § 1, last sentence)  http://janus.state.me.us/legis/const/

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AMENDMENT IV

Amendment IV: “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be search, and the persons or things to be seized.”

Maine Constitution Article I. Declaration of Rights. http://janus.state.me.us/legis/const/
Article I section 5; “The people shall be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and possessions from all unreasonable searches and seizures.

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The Fourth Amendment's provides specific protection for ‘houses, papers, and effects.’ ” Soldal v. Cook County, 506 U.S. 56, 70(1992

The Fourth Amendment is made applicable to the States by the Fourteenth. ….. ." Soldal v. Cook County,506 U.S. 56, 61 , (1992)

The Fourth Amendment’s first clause provides that the “right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated.” There are two types of expectations provided by this text, one involving searches, the other seizures. “A ‘search’ occurs when an expectation of privacy that society is prepared to consider reasonable is infringed. A ‘seizure’ of property occurs when there is some meaningful interference with an individual's possessory interests in that property.” United States v. Jacobsen, 466 U.S. 109, 113 (1984).

“The Fourth Amendment, and the personal rights which it secures, have a long history. At the very core stands the right of a man to be free from unreasonable governmental intrusion.” Silverman v United States, 365 U.S. 505, 511(1961).

This court previous cases “hold that seizures of property are subject to Fourth Amendment scrutiny even though no search within the meaning of the Amendment has taken place.” Soldal v. Cook County, 506 U.S. 56, 68 (1992).

“The heart of the Fourth Amendment … is a severe requirement of specific justification for any government intrusion upon protected personal security.” Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 11 (1968).

[506 U.S. 56, 61] "at the very core" of the Fourth Amendment "stands the right of a man to retreat into his own home." Soldal v. Cook County,506 U.S. 56, 61 , (1992)

Under the Fourth Amendment, the central inquiry is the reasonableness in all the circumstances of the particular governmental invasion of a citizen's personal security.” Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 19 (1968)

[392 U.S. 1, 2] The Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable searches and seizures, ….."protects people, not places," and therefore applies as much to the citizen on the streets as well as at home or elsewhere. Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 2 (1968)

"what the Constitution forbids is not all searches and seizures, but unreasonable searches and seizures." Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1, 9 (1968) >[364 U.S. 206, 222] [116 U.S. 616, 641]

John McCain Rally with Senator Collins  So. Portland ME August, 2008

Annually Displayed On Memeorial Day