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US Supreme Court punches another hole in 4th Amendment
The Supreme Court on Monday gave law enforcement officers new authority to enter a home without a warrant. The court ruled 8 to 1 that Kentucky police who smelled marijuana at an apartment door, knocked loudly and announced themselves, and then kicked in the door when they thought the drugs were being destroyed did nothing wrong. Justice Ginsberg was the sole dissenter, saying "The court today arms the police with a way routinely to dishonor the Fourth Amendment's warrant requirement in drug cases...In lieu of presenting their evidence to a neutral magistrate, police officers may now knock, listen, then break the door down, nevermind that they had ample time to obtain a warrant."The Supremes overturned a ruling by the Kentucky state supreme court which had said the police had created the emergency circumstances that they used to justify their failure to get a warrant to enter the apartment. Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2011-05-17 |
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