Court declines to endorse warrantless entries in all “hot pursuits” for misdemeanors

[Elderberry]

SCOTUSblog by Amy Howe 6/23/2021

The Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that when police are pursuing someone for a misdemeanor, that pursuit does not automatically create the kind of emergency that allows the officer to follow the suspect into a home without a warrant. The court acknowledged that many cases will involve such emergencies – but that determination, Justice Elena Kagan stressed in her opinion for the court, will depend on the facts of each case.

The decision came in the case of Arthur Lange, a California man convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol. In 2016, Lange was returning to his home in Sonoma when a police officer began to follow Lange’s car. The officer, Aaron Weikert, later testified that he wanted to stop Lange because he was “playing music very loudly” and honked his horn several times even though there weren’t any cars in front of him.

Shortly before Lange pulled into his driveway, Weikert turned on his overhead lights. But Lange – who later said that he had not seen Weikert – continued into his garage and began to close the door. Weikert, who had quickly parked in the driveway, followed Lange into the garage. Once there, Weikert said, he smelled alcohol. Lange was taken to a hospital, where testing determined his blood-alcohol level to be 0.245% — more than three times the legal limit.

More: https://www.scotusblog.com/2021/06/court-declines-to-endorse-warrantless-entries-in-all-hot-pursuits-for-misdemeanors/

[PeteS in CA]

SCOTUS Refuses 'To Print a New Permission Slip for Entering the Home Without a Warrant'

https://reason.com/2021/06/23/scotus-refuses-to-print-a-new-permission-slip-for-entering-the-home-without-a-warrant/

In California v. Lange (2019), the California Court of Appeal held that a police offer may always enter a suspect's home without a warrant if the officer is in "hot pursuit" of the suspect and has probable cause to believe that the suspect has committed a misdemeanor. Today, in an important win for Fourth Amendment advocates, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned that ruling. "We are not eager—more the reverse—to print a new permission slip for entering the home without a warrant," declared Justice Elena Kagan in Lange v. California.

The case originated when Arthur Gregory Lange drew the attention of a California highway patrol officer for honking his horn and playing his car stereo at a loud volume, both of which are traffic infractions at worst. The officer followed Lange's car and ultimately switched on his overhead lights just a few seconds before Lange pulled into his own driveway. Lange, who says he never saw the officer's lights in his rearview mirror, entered his driveway and pulled into his garage. The officer quickly parked, exited his vehicle, stuck his foot under the garage door to prevent it from closing, and performed a search without a warrant.

The state of California has "argued that the pursuit of a suspected misdemeanant always qualifies as an exigent circumstance authorizing a warrantless home entry," Kagan observed in her majority opinion, which was joined in full by Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett. But that sweeping argument, Kagan declared, ran afoul of both SCOTUS precedent and the Fourth Amendment's common law roots.

Following a driver to his home for committing two infractions - i.e. not even a misdemeanor - without turning on his lights is "hot pursuit"? If the officer had any sense of urgency (e.g., suspected drunk driving!), why didn't he flip on his lights and pull the driver over immediately?