What Normally Allows a Police Officer to Enter and Search Your Home
The Fourth Amendment requires that police officers have a warrant to enter and search a home. The goal of this provision is to protect privacy and offer freedom from unreasonable intrusions by the government.
Generally, there are a few exceptions. Warrantless searches are permitted when a person gives consent to a home search. It can happen if a police officer already has the right to be on the person’s property and sees evidence of a crime. Police also have the authority to search and seize evidence if they are conducting a valid arrest in a person’s home. Another exception is the “emergency aid” case, when an officer sees a resident collapsing for apparent medical reasons from the window and can run into the house to administer aid.
WASHINGTON (CN) Holding arguments in a case where what happened is about as strange as any hypothetical, Justice Stephen Breyer still provided plenty of seemingly ridiculous reasons in which the law might let a police officer enter someone’s home without a warrant.
How about if California law prevents you from selling or giving away a rabbit for a lottery prize?
“You can think of about 50 of those when you start to get into misdemeanors,” Breyer said Wednesday. “It seems like your home isn’t your castle for terribly minor things.”
On the other hand, Breyer said, “we lose the benefits of a bright line where hot pursuit is really serving an important purpose.”
Supreme Court Weighs Expansion to Warrantless Entry nbcnewyork.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from nbcnewyork.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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