Your Black World reports.
The Supreme Court made a ruling against a Kentucky man, Hollis King, who was arrested when police broke into his home without a search warrant. The officers said they smelled marijuana and wanted to arrest the man before he destroyed the evidence.
In an 8-1 decision, the Supreme Court reversed a decision that had been made by the Kentucky Supreme Court. In the earlier decision, the court threw out evidence that had been found against the defendant because police did not have a warrant. The only dissenting opinion was from Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg. In her statement, she said:
May police, who could pause to gain the approval of a neutral magistrate, dispense with the need to get a warrant by themselves creating exigent circumstances? I would answer no, as did the Kentucky Supreme Court. The urgency must exist, I would rule, when the police come on the scene, not subsequent to their arrival, prompted by their own conduct.
How “secure” do our homes remain if police, armed with no warrant, can pound on doors at will and, on hearing sounds indicative of things moving, forcibly enter and search for evidence of unlawful activity?
The police say they knocked on King’s door because they heard noises that suggested that he might be trying to destroy the evidence. Justice Samuel Alito said that people don’t have to respond when someone knocks on the door or allow police to come in if they do knock.
“Occupants who choose not to stand on their constitutional rights but instead elect to attempt to destroy evidence have only themselves to blame.”
Ginsberg argues, however, that the ruling gives police a way to get around obtaining search warrants before entering someone’s home.
“Police officers may now knock, listen, then break the door down, never mind that they had ample time to obtain a warrant,” she said.
What made the case interesting is that police were only at King’s apartment because they were chasing someone who sold cocaine to a police informant. The man was hiding in King’s building, and officers heard a door slam. When they looked down the hall, they only saw two doors shut. One of the doors, the one belonging to King, had the smell of marijuana, and that’s why they knocked.
