Brief filed: 12/11/2020
Documents
Lange v. California
United States Supreme Court; Case No. 20-18
Prior Decision
Decision below 2019 WL 5654385 (Cal.App. 1 Dist. Oct 30, 2019)
Argument(s)
A rule categorically permitting warrantless entry into a private residence in pursuit of a fleeing misdemeanant would be dangerously overbroad and conflict with long-standing Fourth Amendment jurisprudence requiring case-by-case analysis of whether exigent circumstances justify the entry. An extensive survey of cases involving such entries reveals that many spiral out of control, often resulting in property damage and personal injury to officers, suspects, and innocent third parties. Further, law enforcement interests typically justifying warrantless entries—preventing evidence destruction or protecting the safety of officers and the public—are not implicated in many misdemeanant pursuits. A case-by-case approach would permit warrantless entry when a particular misdemeanant poses a serious threat to people or evidence while encouraging officers to briefly pause and seek a warrant in the many cases where neither the suspected crime nor the circumstances of the pursuit justify putting lives or property at risk.
Author(s)
Jonathan Kravis, Craig Jennings Lavoie, Brandon E. Martinez, and Beau C. Tremitiere, Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP, Washington, DC; Jeffrey T. Green, Sidley Austin LLP, Washington, DC; Stephen Dunkle and John T. Philipsborn, CACJ, Sacramento, CA.
