Searching For A Warrant

My, oh my, how constitutional law has evolved through the years. Yet one limb of the Bill of Rights has been a reliable mainstay of police power check since the beginning; the Fourth Amendment. Unchanged. Protective. Safeguard.

Someone must have gotten bored with prosperity. A majority of the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has decided that securing a warrant to search homes and public buildings is not necessary. Do I hear a collective 'say what?'

The facts of the case before the three-state appellate court are essentially these: In 2000, Kelly Gould was wanted for threatening to kill police officers and judges -- not a very nice thing to do. Gould was also apparently fond of weapons, because he had outstanding gun charges to boot.

Sheriff's deputies made a visit to Gould's home, without a warrant, knocked on the door and was invited in by an occupant, who told them to come on in; bad guy is in the bedroom. The officers went in , searched the place, including inside closets and under beds. Gould was no where to be seen, or found. Sometime later, don't know exactly how long, the fugitive was spotted in a wooded area.

The Fourth Amendment reads:

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

The Supremes have interpreted these words from a presumption that law enforcement officers are required to obtain a warrant before searching our places and things. There are exceptions, of course. If an officer is faced with exigent circumstances -- a readily mobile vehicle, a known killer on the loose seen running into a house -- he is permitted to proceed sans warrant.

The Court has historically, genuinely historically, not a revision of an eye-opening memorandum, held a home to be sacrosanct, and it's not hard to see why. The home is our haven, a place for which we hold the highest expectation of privacy. Any incursion upon that privacy should be, and is normally required to be, let's just say, darn convincing and supported by probable cause.

That's typically not a problem, unless we get into a situaation where some folks are less than honest about providing information to the judge to obtain the warrant. Different story. The issue here is whether or not one is sought in the first place.

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