Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Officers Require Warrant for Dogs to Sniff Homes; Supreme Court:Const.Bans Non-Warrant Searches

The U.S. Supreme Court today (March 26, 2013) ruled that drug-sniffing police dogs cannot be used at the door of a house to detect drugs, unless the dog is accompanied by an officer with a warrant, according to the Bloomberg News website.

"When it comes to the Fourth Amendment, the home is first among equals," Justice Antonin Scalia wrote. "This right would be of little practical value if the state's agents could stand in a home's porch or side garden and trawl for evidence with impunity."

The justices were considering a bid by Florida officials to revive the prosecution of a man arrested after police raided a Miami house and found marijuana plants.

The Florida Supreme Court had ruled that prosecutors could not use evidence obtained in the house because officers violated the U.S. Constitution's ban on unreasonable searches.

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