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PA: Front porch is not curtilage

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

There is no reasonable expectation of privacy from a view from the front porch because it is part of the entrance way. It is not curtilage. Commonwealth v. Gibbs, 2009 PA Super 181, 2009 Pa. Super. LEXIS 3280 (September 14, 2009): [*P10] The issue of whether a front porch constitutes curtilage has not been addressed by the Pennsylvania Appellate Courts. Our sister states which have addressed the issue are divided. However, even those courts which have found that a front porch constitutes curtilage have generally found no Fourth Amendment violation where the porch in question was used by the general public. See, U.S. v. Titemore, 437 F.3d 251, 259 (2d Cir. 2006) (finding no reasonable expectation of privacy in deck attached to home where it constituted part of the principal entryway); Murphy v...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on September 17, 2009 (boomark / email).