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hemocyanin writes:

I didn't realize that the 4th Amendment coffin could take any more nails, but the Supreme Court has ruled that "A police officer can stop a car based on a mistaken understanding of the law without violating the Fourth Amendment." http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/16/us/politics/justices-find-no-rights-violation-in-officers-misreading-of-law.html?_r=0 The vote wasn't even close, 8-1. Only Sotomayor dissented. Link to the actual opinion: http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/14pdf/13-604_ec8f.pdf

From the NYT article:

Chief Justice Roberts conceded that the court’s decision at first blush ran afoul of the maxim that “ignorance of the law is no excuse.”

On reflection, he said, the maxim holds the government and its citizens to the same standard where it counts.

“Just as an individual generally cannot escape criminal liability based on a mistaken understanding of the law,” Chief Justice Roberts wrote, “so too the government cannot impose criminal liability based on a mistaken understanding of the law.”

Huh? Either I'm going crazy or words have lost all meaning, because what he just ruled is that cops who don't know the law, make valid arrests because they are mistaken about the law while if in the same circumstance, the cop knew the action was not consistent with law, the arrest would not be valid -- thus ignorance of the law benefits the cops immensely, a real person has been subjected to criminal liability because of this ignorance, and now the law can mean whatever the dude with the badge and gun says.