And then we woke up one day living in a fish bowl
Once again, indoor plumbing causes the court to ignore the fourth amendment:
The justices in an 8-1 decision said officers who loudly knock on a door and then hear sounds suggesting evidence is being destroyed may break down the door and enter without a search warrant.
And what does evidence destruction sound like? Meanwhile, hats off to Ginsburg:
In a lone dissent, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said she feared the ruling in a Kentucky case will give police an easy way to ignore the 4th Amendment. “Police officers may not knock, listen and then break the door down,” she said, without violating the 4th Amendment.
May 17th, 2011 at 9:12 am
My general dumb luck is people knock at the door while I’m taking a shit. So knocks at the door often are followed by me flushing.
If when I flush I hear my door break down I WILL come out of the head shooting.
May 17th, 2011 at 9:23 am
So…would this be considered a SHTF moment…?
May 17th, 2011 at 9:44 am
Not often I agree with Ginsburg – checking out the window for flying bacon…
Reminds me of South Park – “He’s comin’ right for us!”
Actually with those damnable low-flow toilets and a house full of kids ANYONE who knocks at the door, day or night, will hear someone flushing and swearing. Stupid CFL bulbs always stick in the u-bend.
May 17th, 2011 at 9:49 am
Here comes the result: Cops will now, without a warrant, knock down any door they wish, and later claim that they smelled weed and heard a toilet flush. The Fourth Amendment is now officially dead.
May 17th, 2011 at 9:52 am
At least Hossiers no longer need to worry about the court decision that prohibits resistance to even unlawful entry into their homes by the cops- there is no longer any such thing as an unlawful entry.
Wait until they decide to start rounding people up for the freight cars.
May 17th, 2011 at 9:56 am
Damn it! Now I HAVE to have another set of Hearing Aids with extra Batteries. Of course, this means when I’m asleep with the AC on this summer, I’m Fracked.
As for Ginsburg: THe only reason the Uber Liberal voted against it was that the case involved Ganja. If it was Guns and the BATFEIEIO, you know it would have been Unanimous.
Time to buy more Ammo.
May 17th, 2011 at 10:57 am
Not good. So if they knock on the door and then kick it in does that mean we can open up on them with a garand from point blank???
May 17th, 2011 at 11:25 am
Why would you be sitting at your door with a Garand waiting for intruders to come in?
May 17th, 2011 at 11:28 am
John Smith: your Garand, while a wonderful shooting iron from the Olde Days, will NOT carry you through a fight with a door-stacked assault team. You need an armored position to shoot a full-auto weapon from.
BTW, this is NOT news: in the 3rd Circuit, the sound of flushing has been an “exigent circumstance” excusing a cop’s failing to get a warrant for at least 35 years that I know of.
May 17th, 2011 at 11:51 am
A couple of semi auto .308s will probably do. Ask the ATF. The Branch Davidians seemed to have had some luck there. You just have to get out of there before reinforcements arrive.
May 17th, 2011 at 11:54 am
“…sounds suggesting evidence is being destroyed…”
That’s a carte blanche invitation to law enforcement to do as they please.
May 17th, 2011 at 12:14 pm
Gotta admit, that’s a stunning reversal for Darth Vader Ginsburg. The rest of them ain’t worth a tinker’s damn, though, especially the supposed conservatives.
Rivrdog, I think Jeff is suggesting not staying put, but moving out and going guerilla, if you get the chance.
May 17th, 2011 at 12:55 pm
It is on the mantle in the main hallway leading to the door. You can grab it as you head to the door.
May 17th, 2011 at 1:22 pm
All this brings me back to that statement I made a few days ago. My biggest worry is an illegal no knock…
Here are the decisions it comes down to.
Do nothing when someone kicks in your door. (Fair chance of death still)
Pick up your weapon and be shot like the Marine in AZ.(Death)
Pick up your weapon and shoot them…(Death or life imprisonment if you do survive)
Not a lot of cool choices any which way.
May 17th, 2011 at 1:29 pm
We have Now Given the Jack Booted Thugs an excuse to hide behind when the kick in the door.
Jack Booted Thugs Given Power to Stomp the 4th Amendment
May 17th, 2011 at 1:52 pm
Amazing. The Bill of Rights is dead by the folks who swore to uphold it.
May 17th, 2011 at 3:41 pm
divemedic: Bad plan.
Best plan is to have the JBTs kick down the door of the empty apartment you were using as a mail drop / legal residence.
May 17th, 2011 at 4:40 pm
Um, this isn’t exactly black helicopter stuff. The police knocked on the door, which they can legally do, whether they suspect drugs or just feel like saying hi. They sense illegal activity (by smelling the MJ), followed by the possible destruction of evanescent evidence, all at a place where they reasonably suspect a drug dealer to have gone. As a prosecutor, I see no constitutional problem (as they did actually find contraband consistent with their statement of probable cause). That said, the officers should be disciplined for incompetence for letting this happen.
May 17th, 2011 at 4:52 pm
Buy a black SWAT outfit, goggles and an MP5. When the cops bust in run around yelling like you’re one of them. Slip out while they decide what guns/drugs to throw down.
May 17th, 2011 at 6:21 pm
Just connect your toilets to the internet/smartphone so you can produce a time-stamped log of toilet use to protect your 4th amendment rights…..
May 17th, 2011 at 7:29 pm
@-Wolfwood-as a police officer, I have a problem with it being sloppy police work. I’ve ran into residences while in fresh pursuit, and if there are items in plain view or a nexus is established to fleeing do-bad and the residence( not just some house he ran into)…get a friggin warrant. Sloppy police work is how bad case law gets made. Gant v. Arizona would have turned out differently if they didn’t have a rookie officer testify to, “that’s how we do.” This is the other extreme of the Gant arguement where the police powers are extended, but seriously…it wouldn’t have been difficult to get a warrant.
May 17th, 2011 at 8:11 pm
death of the republic, and exactly nothing happens.
May 17th, 2011 at 10:33 pm
@ATLien:
I think the phrase is: “not with a bang, but a whimper”
May 17th, 2011 at 11:39 pm
Yep. The autopsy will say “Too much QQ, not enough Pew-Pew”