Supreme court limits police use of drug-sniffing dogs [View all]
Source: Reuters
Tue Mar 26, 2013 10:54am EDT
(Reuters) - The Supreme Court on Tuesday limited the ability of police to use a dog to sniff around the outside of a home for illegal drugs that might be inside.
By a 5-4 vote, the court said a government's use of trained police dogs to investigate a home and its immediate surroundings was a "search" within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution.
The decision could make it harder for police to use trained dogs to detect drugs without first obtaining warrants.
"A police officer not armed with a warrant may approach a home and knock, precisely because that is no more than any private citizen might do," Justice Antonin Scalia wrote for the majority.
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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/26/us-usa-court-dog-sniffs-idUSBRE92P0NE20130326
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