Court Decisions (by Chapter) Court reviews when police may enter someone's home without warrant. Kentucky police were following a man who had just sold drugs to an undercover informant. They entered an apartment breezeway, heard a door slam and found they had two choices. Behind door No. 1 was the dealer. And, unfortunately for him, behind door No. 2 were Hollis King and friends, smoking marijuana. Smelling the drug, the officers banged loudly on King's apartment door and identified themselves as police.
The officers said they heard a noise and feared evidence was being destroyed. They kicked down the door and found King, two friends, some drugs and cash. King was sentenced to 11 years in prison, but the Kentucky Supreme Court overturned his conviction. On Wednesday, the case made its way to the U.S. Justice Elena Kagan spelled out the worry for some on the court. "One of the points of the Fourth Amendment is to ensure that when people search your home, they have a warrant, and of course there are exceptions to that," she said. Crime Spider crimes law enforcement homicide police. Why Cops Aren’t Whistleblowers. While awarding Barron Bowling $830,000 last September for the beating he suffered at the hands of a Drug Enforcement Administration agent in Kansas City, Kansas, U.S.
District Judge Julie Robinson went out of her way to acknowledge another victim in the disgraceful affair: Kansas City police detective Max Seifert.... Philip K. Howard: Four ways to fix a broken legal system. Freedom Vaults : Guidelines for Saying No to Police Searches. One of the main powers that law enforcement officers carry is the power to intimidate citizens into voluntarily giving up their rights. Police are trained to believe in their authority and trained to perform their interactions with private citizens with confidence. It is their job to deal with problems and they learn to manage uncomfortable situations through strength.
Most people, when confronted by police get a mild panic reaction, become anxious, and try to do whatever they can to minimize the time spent with the officer. Because of the imbalance of power between citizen and officer, when a law enforcement officer makes a strongly worded request, most people consent without realizing that they are giving up constitutional protections against improper meddling by the State in the private affairs of citizens. A common situation is that of the traffic stop. Unfortunately police will often try to push citizens to accept a search, to the point of ignoring when you say "no". The Terry v. Judicial Watch | Fighting corruption & promoting transparency in government through public education and use of the Freedom of Information Act.