Police don't have to knock, justices say
El_Kabong
Posts: 4,141
didn't see much of this since it happened last week...the supreme court ruled the police do NOT have to knock first! good thing alito and roberts were there to vote in favor of it since the supreme court has routinely voted against it
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/06/15/supremecourt/main1715081.shtml?source=RSS&attr=Politics_1715081
Police don't have to knock, justices say
Alito's vote breaks 4-4 tie in police search case
CBS/AP) The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that police armed with a warrant can barge into homes and seize evidence even if they don't knock, a huge government victory that was decided by President Bush's new justices.
The 5-4 ruling signals the court's conservative shift following the departure of moderate Sandra Day O'Connor.
The case tested previous court rulings that police armed with warrants generally must knock and announce themselves or they run afoul of the Constitution's Fourth Amendment ban on unreasonable searches.
"The Supreme Court has been gradually upgrading police search powers," CBS News correspondent Barry Bagnato says. "This is another step in that direction."
Justice Antonin Scalia, writing for the majority, said Detroit police acknowledge violating that rule when they called out their presence at a man's door then went inside three seconds to five seconds later.
"Whether that preliminary misstep had occurred or not, the police would have executed the warrant they had obtained, and would have discovered the gun and drugs inside the house," Scalia wrote.
But suppressing evidence is too high a penalty, Scalia said, for errors by police in failing to properly announce themselves.
The outcome might have been different if O'Connor were still on the bench. She seemed ready, when the case was first argued in January, to rule in favor of Booker Hudson, whose house was searched in 1998.
O'Connor had worried aloud that officers around the country might start bursting into homes to execute search warrants. She asked: "Is there no policy of protecting the homeowner a little bit and the sanctity of the home from this immediate entry?"
She retired before the case was decided, and a new argument was held so that Justice Samuel Alito could participate in deliberations. Alito and Bush's other Supreme Court pick, Chief Justice John Roberts, both supported Scalia's opinion.
Hudson's lawyers argued that evidence against him was connected to the improper search and could not be used against him.
Scalia said that a victory for Hudson would have given "a get-out-of-jail-free card" to him and others.
In a dissent, four justices complained that the decision erases more than 90 years of Supreme Court precedent.
"It weakens, perhaps destroys, much of the practical value of the Constitution's knock-and-announce protection," Justice Stephen Breyer wrote for himself and the three other liberal members.
Breyer said that police will feel free to enter homes without knocking and waiting a short time if they know that there is no punishment for it.
Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, a moderate, joined the conservatives in most of the ruling. He wrote his own opinion, however, to say "it bears repeating that it is a serious matter if law enforcement officers violate the sanctity of the home by ignoring the requisites of lawful entry."
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/06/15/supremecourt/main1715081.shtml?source=RSS&attr=Politics_1715081
Police don't have to knock, justices say
Alito's vote breaks 4-4 tie in police search case
CBS/AP) The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that police armed with a warrant can barge into homes and seize evidence even if they don't knock, a huge government victory that was decided by President Bush's new justices.
The 5-4 ruling signals the court's conservative shift following the departure of moderate Sandra Day O'Connor.
The case tested previous court rulings that police armed with warrants generally must knock and announce themselves or they run afoul of the Constitution's Fourth Amendment ban on unreasonable searches.
"The Supreme Court has been gradually upgrading police search powers," CBS News correspondent Barry Bagnato says. "This is another step in that direction."
Justice Antonin Scalia, writing for the majority, said Detroit police acknowledge violating that rule when they called out their presence at a man's door then went inside three seconds to five seconds later.
"Whether that preliminary misstep had occurred or not, the police would have executed the warrant they had obtained, and would have discovered the gun and drugs inside the house," Scalia wrote.
But suppressing evidence is too high a penalty, Scalia said, for errors by police in failing to properly announce themselves.
The outcome might have been different if O'Connor were still on the bench. She seemed ready, when the case was first argued in January, to rule in favor of Booker Hudson, whose house was searched in 1998.
O'Connor had worried aloud that officers around the country might start bursting into homes to execute search warrants. She asked: "Is there no policy of protecting the homeowner a little bit and the sanctity of the home from this immediate entry?"
She retired before the case was decided, and a new argument was held so that Justice Samuel Alito could participate in deliberations. Alito and Bush's other Supreme Court pick, Chief Justice John Roberts, both supported Scalia's opinion.
Hudson's lawyers argued that evidence against him was connected to the improper search and could not be used against him.
Scalia said that a victory for Hudson would have given "a get-out-of-jail-free card" to him and others.
In a dissent, four justices complained that the decision erases more than 90 years of Supreme Court precedent.
"It weakens, perhaps destroys, much of the practical value of the Constitution's knock-and-announce protection," Justice Stephen Breyer wrote for himself and the three other liberal members.
Breyer said that police will feel free to enter homes without knocking and waiting a short time if they know that there is no punishment for it.
Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, a moderate, joined the conservatives in most of the ruling. He wrote his own opinion, however, to say "it bears repeating that it is a serious matter if law enforcement officers violate the sanctity of the home by ignoring the requisites of lawful entry."
standin above the crowd
he had a voice that was strong and loud and
i swallowed his facade cos i'm so
eager to identify with
someone above the crowd
someone who seemed to feel the same
someone prepared to lead the way
he had a voice that was strong and loud and
i swallowed his facade cos i'm so
eager to identify with
someone above the crowd
someone who seemed to feel the same
someone prepared to lead the way
Post edited by Unknown User on
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Comments
...are those who've helped us.
Right 'round the corner could be bigger than ourselves.
exactly, if the police have the warrant in hand that means they have reason to enter the house b/c something illegal is most likely occurring there. It's not like the cops can just walk up and in to any persons house without knocking.
"People have the right to answer the door in a dignified manner," Hudson's lawyer David Moran had told the high court. The justices have ruled in the past that police should announce their presence, then normally wait 15 to 20 seconds before bursting into a home.
"It weakens, perhaps destroys, much of the practical value of the Constitution's knock-and-announce protection," concluded Breyer, who said he fears police will now feel free to routinely violate the knocking and waiting requirements, knowing they might not be punished for it.
naděje umírá poslední
...are those who've helped us.
Right 'round the corner could be bigger than ourselves.
Yes, and with those 2 justices who are very big on precedent could it be possible there was a legitimate reason for their voting the way they did?
I'm all for protecting the accused but if there is a WARRANT in hand that implies due process has been followed...knock the door down or just go on in... and i think justice kennedy hit it on the head "it bears repeating that it is a serious matter if law enforcement officers violate the sanctity of the home by ignoring the requisites of lawful entry."
well yeah it is...it could be a long way to the bathroom to flush the drugs... those 10 seconds could be huge
you do realize that it was changed during the reagan administration that all you need for a warrant is an anonymous tip?
'The U.S. Supreme Court has relaxed criteria for securing search warrants, creating what Robert W. Sweet called the "drug exception to the Fourth Amendment" ("The War on Drugs Is Lost" (a symposium), National Review, February 12, 1996). Issuance of search warrants is now permitted based on anonymous tips and even on tips from informants who are known to be corrupt and unreliable. Evidence obtained under defective search warrants has been upheld if officers executing the warrant were deemed to have acted in "good faith." Warrantless searches of fields, barns, automobiles, and private property near residences are permitted, as well as warrantless use of narcotics-sniffing dogs and unrestricted searches of watercraft on inland waterways and on the high seas. Authorities can also sift through citizens' trash without a warrant. The U.S. Supreme Court's docket includes consideration of whether police will be allowed to enter without knocking when they have a search warrant for drugs.'
he had a voice that was strong and loud and
i swallowed his facade cos i'm so
eager to identify with
someone above the crowd
someone who seemed to feel the same
someone prepared to lead the way
So you're just sitting there one day and CRASH goes your front door and a bunch of cops rush the place with guns? whoever thinks that is totally cool is crazy.
That should never happen.
I didn't know that...but lets me honest here. Do you truly believe that a warrant is issued for every anonymous tip given? Do you also think that cops are going to stop knocking and just walk in every time? I think you sell cops a little short if you think that. I think this decision gives police the ability to do their job a little better. If there is a serious situation they need to investigate they can now investigate it a little bit quicker w/o having to speak and wait and knock. It allows a little more room for judgement calls that police can make.
You need a judge to grant one. Whatever criteria they use as a judge is fine by me.
...are those who've helped us.
Right 'round the corner could be bigger than ourselves.
ah, so if you agree w/ the judge anything is ok...when you disagree suddenly they are 'activist judges' trying to 'legislate and push their idealogy from the bench'?? ok, i got it
he had a voice that was strong and loud and
i swallowed his facade cos i'm so
eager to identify with
someone above the crowd
someone who seemed to feel the same
someone prepared to lead the way
Not sure where you dreamed up that connection as I've not said anything like that, but the thing is that a judge is elected to weigh evidence and make suggestions. If they feel that a warrant is warranted, then that's good enough for me.
...are those who've helped us.
Right 'round the corner could be bigger than ourselves.
you may not have personally said anything about 'activist judges' but it was quite the topic last summer.
Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.
-Oscar Wilde
I believe the reasoning for police announcing themselves is to reduce violence and property damage during raids, which are occurring more & more often with the increasing use of militarized SWAT teams to prosecute the "War on Drugs".
Its understandable that any homeowner might mistake police for intruders when crashing in unannounced in the middle of the night, the problem is that it increases risk for death or injury for all involved.
from my window to yours
yeah. and what happens if i'm half asleep when someone i don't know comes crashing through my door and i think i'm under attack and shoot the bastard?
take a good look
this could be the day
hold my hand
lie beside me
i just need to say
death penalty
Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.
-Oscar Wilde
you won't have to worry about it, seeing as you're in sydney.
i don't have a problem with this. i'm pretty confident that my door won't be busted down.
~Michael Bolton
how many warrants have you served? I've served hundreds, mostly in the middle of the night. that 15 seconds that you give someone is 15 seconds that they have to destroy evidence or run, or worst of all, hide and arm themselves. so to say that unannounced entry increases risk of death or injury for all involved is absolutely false. it also cuts down on the chances that uninvolved 3rd parties inside the residence will have the opportunity to work up a lie to tell officers, thus stirring up new criminal charges.
Too bad the government leave so much to the discretion of these public servants, but doesn't see fit to fund their training or compensation commensurate with the expectation of performance.
good points.. nice to see an expert chime in. Thanks
you have the undeniable right to use deadly force when someone enters your home uninvited...in that situation - nothing happens unless it is found that you came to know that the people (or person) in your house was a law enforcement officer...then you are charged with murder...
from my window to yours
that is a stunningly broad stroke. think self-defense...and defending your home...there would have to be some extremely exacerbating circumstances to warrant any sort of conviction in that situation.
from my window to yours
Hail Hail MLC2006!
huh?
there is no such 'undeniable right' that I know of. to say 'undeniable' if I understand correctly, would be to say that you can't be prosecuted, and I know for sure that this is not the case, at least if probable cause can be shown that you killed someone for a reason other than SELF defense (not property defense). in the case of someone killing an officer serving a warrant, there would be PLENTY of probable cause to prove motive beyond self defense.
try asking fred hampton
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Hampton#The_raid
he had a voice that was strong and loud and
i swallowed his facade cos i'm so
eager to identify with
someone above the crowd
someone who seemed to feel the same
someone prepared to lead the way
"Ok were here,make sure you hide the illegal stuff before we come in".