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In this case, Lange v. California, Arthur Lange drove by a California Highway Patrol officer playing loud music and occasionally honking his horn. The officer began to follow Lange and turned on his overhead lights. Shortly after, Lange turned into his driveway, pulled into his garage, and began shutting his garage door. The officer jumped out of his car and stuck his foot under the door to stop it from closing. The officer interviewed Lange in the garage and charged him with a misdemeanor for driving while intoxicated. Lange moved to suppress the evidence of intoxication because the officer entered his home without a warrant. The trial and Appeals courts rejected Lange's motion and the evidence was allowed. However, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed with Lange that the evidence from the warrantless search should be suppressed and vacated the lower court's judgment. The US Supreme Court declined to take up an appeal from the family of Luke Stewart, a Black man, who believed the officer should not be shielded from prosecution because he did not act within his duties. Officer Matthew Rhodes of Euclid, Ohio woke Stewart up in his car; Stewart tried to drive away and Rhodes shot and killed him. The federal court and 6th Circuit Court of Appeals granted the officer qualified immunity, a decision that stays in place with the Supreme Court failing to hear the case (Reuters, May 24). |
September, 2021
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Portland Copwatch Portland Copwatch is a grassroots, volunteer organization promoting police accountability through citizen action.
People's Police Report
#84 Table of Contents
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![[image of Slate article titled The One Area Where
Supreme Court Jurisprudence is Actually Improving Thanks to Originalism]](https://www.pjw.info/copwatch/PPR84/legal_slate_072221.jpg)
In June, the US
Supreme Court ruled that an officer pursuing a fleeing misdemeanor suspect does
not categorically have the right to enter a home without permission or withtout obtaining a warrant
(NPR, June 23). The Fourth Amendment ordinarily requires police officers to get a warrant prior to
entering a home except when "exigencies" create an urgent need for a warrantless entry. The
Court ruled that many (but not all) misdemeanor crimes do not meet the threshold of exigent
circumstances for an officer to pursue a suspect into a home without a warrant. Officers will need to
take reasonable measures to balance the immediate need to pursue the suspect with the need to
comply with the Fourth Amendment on a case-by-case basis.