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Dog sniff at the front door of a house... constitutes a search for purposes of the 4th Amendment | 244 comments | Create New Account
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Dog sniff at the front door of a house... constitutes a search for purposes of the 4th Amendment
Authored by: Anonymous on Wednesday, March 27 2013 @ 03:22 AM EDT
yeah, sounds stupid

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

Dog sniff at the front door of a house... constitutes a search for purposes of the 4th Amendment
Authored by: darkonc on Wednesday, March 27 2013 @ 03:51 AM EDT
The real point of the ruling seems to be that they trespassed onto the property to do the search. From my reading of the summary, as long as the dog stays on public property (or otherwise on property where the dog and trainer have permission to be), it's perfectly legal.

In other words, if the next-door neighbour gives permission, they should be able to do it from the neighbour's lawn. If a housemate of the suspect gives permission to come on the property, then it's legal anywhere that the housemate is allowed to roam -- and allows the officers to roam.

It seems to be the trespass which triggers the 4th amenment, here. It seems like a similar principle with the Plain sight rule In the plain sight rule, as long as an officer has the right to be where they are, whatever they see/hear/smell is allowable evidence -- but the moment that they tresspass (e.g. move things around or touch your body), they're into 4th amendment territory.

If they trespassed onto your property, they'd fail the 'plain sight' rule, so it makes perfect sense to me that trespassing onto your property with a dog that can sense something that isn't even in plain view/scent would also fail the test.

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[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

If you're not guilty, you have nothing to worry about...
Authored by: Gringo_ on Wednesday, March 27 2013 @ 10:01 AM EDT

...but you do! Dogs may give an ambiguous signal that is misinterpreted by his handler as a positive for the presence of drugs. Then you would likely have to suffer the indignity of a search of your premises or even be hauled away and treated like a common criminal until you could prove your innocence. I think it is preferable that these canines not be allowed to wander onto your property!

[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

Dog sniff at the front door of a house... constitutes a search for purposes of the 4th Amendment
Authored by: JamesK on Wednesday, March 27 2013 @ 10:56 AM EDT
Of course, this ignores the fact that there are a lot of things that will
attract a dog's nose. My dog can be quite stubborn, when she finds an
interesting scent.

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[ Reply to This | Parent | # ]

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