Caretaker Doctrine
Does warrantless search extend to the home?
The Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects Americans from unreasonable search and seizure of property. But, like most rights, there are exceptions. One is called the “community caretaker doctrine.”
While police need a warrant for most searches, if they have a “reasonable and articulable suspicion” that an individual is in distress, they are permitted to do a brief, limited search or seizure “for the purpose of investigating the suspicion and rendering aid.”
The doctrine was established in a 1973 case where a vehicle was searched. But does the exception apply to an individual’s home? So far, there has been no absolute answer to that question. Courts at both state and federal levels has been divided.
The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Friday to hear a case that could decide that question and has also raised the interest of gun rights activists.
In 2015, a Rhode Island man named Edward Caniglia was arguing with his wife. He brought out an unloaded guns, saying “Why don’t you just shoot me and get me out of my misery.”
Caniglia’s wife left the home and went to a motel. The next day she could not contact her husband and, worried he may have harmed himself, called the police.
Officers conducted a welfare check and found Caniglia alive. He said he was not suicidal, but agreed to go to a hospital for evaluation.
Police searched the home, where they found and seized two handguns, along with magazines and ammunition, for safekeeping.
Caniglia was examined and released the same day. But the police refused to return his guns. He eventually got his guns back, but the question remains: Did police overstep the community caretaker doctrine by searching Caniglia’s home?
We suspect whatever ruling comes down will be as limited as possible. The court is unlikely to throw out any possibility of a community caretaker home search. And we doubt the fact guns were involved will figure into the ruling at all. The justices will want to avoid that can of worms at all costs.