WASHINGTON — Police officers may enter and search a home without a warrant as long as one occupant consents, even if another resident has previously objected, the Supreme Court ruled Tuesday in a Los Angeles case.
The 6-3 ruling, triggered by a Los Angeles Police Department arrest in 2009, gives authorities more leeway to search homes without obtaining a warrant, even when there is no emergency. Full Article
I hope to God this gets challenged! It’s obvious that the decision does erode protections against warrantless home searches.Such protections are indeed at the “very core” of the 4th Amendment and its ban on unreasonable searches and seizures. I’ll bet the police are laughing with glee as they dust off the American flag on their uniform as prepare to go totally abuse yet another freedom so many died to protect.
This article got me thinking, “What If police are doing a compliance check on your home and you’re not there, but your child is? Can your child, possibly feeling intimidated, give consent to police to search your home if asked?” Here’s what I found.
Whether your child can give police consent to search your home depends primarily on the child’s age. The younger the child, the less authority the child would have to consent to a search. California courts, for example, require a child to be at least 12 to consent, and even then the child must appear to be “in charge” of the house at the time.
So be sure that your children are educated that they “SHOULD NOT” consent to a search and that the Police should come back when a parent is present.