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Probation search affected his relatives, too, and would have violated their Fourth Amendment rights, but qualified immunity protects the officers

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

The search of a probationer's home affected the rights of those who lived with him, too, and their rights were violated by the entry. The officer, however, wins on qualified immunity. Thornton v. Lund, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17078 (E.D. Wis. March 5, 2008): Of course, officials may not search a home without a warrant based on the parolee/probationer exception if the home is not the residence of the parolee or probationer. See, e.g., Motley v. Parks, 432 F.3d 1072, 1078 (9th Cir. 2005) (en banc); Moore v. Vega, 371 F.3d 110, 116 (2d Cir. 2004); see also Steagald, 451 U.S. at 220 (holding that officials may not enter a third-party's home to locate the subject of an arrest warrant unless they also hold a search warrant for the home). However, if officials reasonably believe that a parolee or probationer lives at a particular house, courts analyze the search as if the parolee or probationer in fact lived there...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on March 08, 2008 (boomark / email).