Free Republic

The Institute for Justice says its data show that a century-old Supreme Court doctrine created a huge exception to the Fourth Amendment. Police can traipse onto the vast majority of private property in the country without a warrant thanks to a century-old Supreme Court decision, according to a new study by the Institute for Justice, a libertarian-leaning public-interest law firm. In a study published in the spring 2024 issue of Regulation, a publication of the Cato Institute, Institute for Justice attorney Josh Windham and research analyst David Warren estimate that at least 96 percent of all private land in the...

Willowick police responded this morning to a SWAT situation at a home in the 200 block of East 330th Street. A woman called officers at 2:20 a.m. saying she had a disagreement with her boyfriend, who had walked to his home nearby. “He kind of indicated to her that he was going to kill himself with a gun,” Willowick Police Chief Michael Lazor said. “He had a CCW permit and his girlfriend thought he had assault weapons. There was concern he might be suicidal.” Around 4:15 a.m., Emergency Response Team negotiators were called out to the scene. Police repeatedly attempted...

When the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear oral arguments on a Fourth Amendment case decided by the Kentucky Supreme Court (Kentucky v. King), alarm bells went off. Under the Fourth Amendment, as readers are no doubt aware, “the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.” But what if police pick the wrong house,...