Here's a mind-numbingly bad ruling, courtesy of the Michigan Court of Appeals.
According to the court, it's perfectly constitutional for police to use drug-sniffing dogs to sniff the exterior of a house even without a search warrant or probable cause.
It is??? Maybe I'm mistaken, but I was once told that there's something called a Fourth Amendment, which is supposed to prohibit these types of warrantless searches.
One of the judges on this court said this search is legal because your front porch is public property. Um, what's that again? Since when is a porch public property?
Does that mean you can make the city use public funds to pay to fix your porch? Does that mean we can go to the judge's porch and conduct an alcohol-laden party without even getting the judge's permission?
(Source: http://www.mlive.com/news/index.ssf/2008/05/court_drug_dogs_can_sniff_outs.html)
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Court lets drug dogs sniff house without warrant
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Hmmm, this post assumes new importance given the events surrounding the arrest of Henry Louis Gates Jr. The arresting officer did so on Gates' own front porch, preferring a charge of disorderly conduct, which charge assumes Gates was "in public". How about an update on this case?
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