Recall that the text of the Fourth Amendment prohibits officers from conducting a search or seizure that is unreasonable. Put another way, as long as officers are acting reasonably they are complying the Fourth Amendment – be reasonable and you are okay.
There are a number of bright-line situations that do not require a warrant to conduct a search. But remember, that in each case where a bright-line rule was created, the Courts simply held that it was reasonable to do the warrantless search. For instance, if a citizen voluntarily tells the officer he or she can search, it’s reasonable to do so (consent); or if a person is arrested, it is reasonable to search his or her person for weapons and evidence (search incident to arrest).
I cannot stress this enough – the Fourth Amendment simply boils down to being reasonable. This is the key to understanding and applying the Fourth Amendment. We cannot possibly ask an officer or career prosecutor to memorize every case – so, to understand the Fourth Amendment, think about it systematically. And that system, just be reasonable.
Let me give you a scenario:
Adult daughter, who lives 6 hours away, calls dispatch and says her elderly mother did not attend church, which she never misses, and mother is not answering her cell phone or home phone. As mother lives alone, daughter is very concerned. A patrol officer is dispatched to the home, looks through a window in the front door, and sees the feet of someone lying on the floor, who is not responding to the officer’s knocking.
So, can the officer force entry into the home without a warrant? Would you? I assume you would (actually, I really hope so). But why? Remember, that officers cannot enter a home without a warrant, unless there is some exception. It’s not because of exigency – exigent circumstances require clear probable cause of a crime (along with the exigency such destruction of evidence, escape, etc). The law school answer – this falls under the community caretaking function of law enforcement, or the emergency exception (similar to, but not the same as exigency). But I asked why can an officer enter without a warrant – and it’s because it’s reasonable to enter under those circumstances. And that’s the trick.
The Test – The Golden Rule: When asking whether you can do a search or seizure without a warrant, just ask, “Is it reasonable?” We’ll get to the exceptions over the next several months, but always, always, start with that analysis.
Legal Supplement
Ohio v. Robinette, 519 U.S. 33, 39 (1996), “We have long held that the touchstone of the Fourth Amendment is reasonableness. Reasonableness, in turn, is measured in objective terms by examining the totality of circumstances.”
Wilson v. Arkansas, 514 U.S. 927, 931 (1995), “[T]he underlying command of the Fourth Amendment is always that searches and seizures be reasonable.”
