Supreme Court Strikes Blow To 4th Amendment With Homeowner Consent Ruling

February 25, 2014 by Ben Bullard

The Supreme Court ruled today that police, without a warrant, may legally enter and search a dwelling even over the vehement protestations of an occupant, so long as a co-occupant grants them access.

That decision reverses a 2006 ruling, which held that the refusal of even one occupant to allow a warrantless search was sufficient to keep law enforcement from entering a home….. The case involved… search of a house they believed harbored a robbery suspect. The suspect….. wouldn’t let them inside the house. But the police argued that Fernandez’ girlfriend…..looked sketchy enough to suggest a probable cause for domestic violence – an unrelated charge. They went in and arrested Fernandez on the DV charge, removed him from the home, and in the meantime sought and got on-site permission from Rojas to search the home. That search produced evidence that tied Fernandez to the robbery – the reason the police had shown up in the first place……. Alito argued that Rojas’ permission carried equal weight (really, greater weight) with that of Fernandez’ denial:…… Souter and the majority found, in 2006, that one refusal was enough to force police to demonstrate probable cause to search a home, Alito has invited the police to go fishing for the most gullible or legally naive resident who might be found at the premises. All they need is a “yes” - any “yes.”…..  To Read More…..