Customs Checkpoint Raises Constitutional Questions

Former High Court Judge, Senior Counsel Lisa Shoman, is weighing in on the growing legal dispute surrounding the authority of customs officers to man a checkpoint and stop and search motorists. The dispute stems from a News Five report that highlighted the experience of attorney Tiffany Cadle who, on Sunday evening, refused to allow customs officers to search her vehicle. Cadle contended that the officers have no authority to man a checkpoint without support from police officers and that they also have no authority to conduct a search on her vehicle without reasonable suspicion. Today, Shoman took to Facebook to empathize the fact that law enforcement officers must have reasonable suspicion to stop and search someone. Shoman referenced the Greg Nunez and Bryton Codd versus the Attorney General of Belize and Commissioner of Police claim. She highlighted the fact that the court ruled that police acted illegally when they stopped and searched Nunez and Codd without any probable cause and found the actions of the police to be arbitrary, oppressive, and unconstitutional, because they violated the claimants’ rights to personal liberty and freedom of movement protected under the Belize Constitution. Shoman contends that this landmark decision reinforced the constitutional principle that individuals in Belize are protected from arbitrary search or entry by the state. She called for an end to the personal name calling and bashing of a young lawyer who she says may have a really good legal point.