k9

A narcotics dog cannot testify, cannot explain what it smelled, and cannot distinguish between what is illegal and what the law has chosen to make lawful. Yet its behavior—interpreted by a handler—can still unlock a warrantless search. When reward cues, ambiguous alerts, and outdated drug-war assumptions are treated as probable cause, justice doesn’t merely err. It intrudes first and justifies later, asking courts and citizens alike to accept ritual in place of evidence.