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MA: No expectation of privacy in homeless shelter quarters

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Homeless shelter with 24 rooms that was highly regulated as to who stayed where and for how long. The use of the rooms was not completely free, and the shelter regulated it and had the authority to enter for inspection. Thus, there was no reasonable expectation of privacy in the rooms. The shelter let the police in to look for a gun. Commonwealth v. Porter P., 2008 Mass. App. LEXIS 1093 (October 31, 2008): Here, the defendant and his mother lived in a room in a twenty-four room shelter. The department paid their rent. They could not choose their room, and could be transferred to another room if deemed necessary by the shelter. They voluntarily agreed to live in a highly regulated environment, where shelter staff were charged with maintaining order, discipline, and a safe environment...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on November 03, 2008 (boomark / email).