Seizures -- In General (From Briefs of 100 Leading Cases in Law Enforcement, P 53-59, 1991, Rolando V. del Carmen, Jeffery T. Walker -- See NCJ-126275)

• NCJ Number: 126281
• Author(s): R V del Carmen; J T Walker
• Date Published: 1991
• Length: 7 pages
• Sale Source: Anderson Publishing Co
• Publication Type: Legislation/Policy Analysis
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Supreme Court decisions concerning seizures are analyzed for their significance to law enforcement.

Abstract

In Schmerber v. California, 384 U.S. 757 (1966), it was determined that the drawing of blood from a suspect without his or her consent to obtain evidence is not a violation of any constitutional rights as long as the removal is done by medical personnel using accepted medical methods. The Court stated in Welsh v. Wisconsin, 466 U.S. 740 (1984), that the warrantless nighttime entry of a suspect's home to effect an arrest for a nonjailable offense is prohibited by the fourth amendment. And finally, in Winston v. Lee, 470 U.S. 753 (1985), the Court decided that compelled surgical intrusions into an individual's body may be of such a magnitude that the intrusion is unreasonable even if it may produce evidence of a crime. This case indicates that there are limits to what the government can do in an effort to solve a crime, i.e., the State could not compel an individual to undergo surgery in a search for evidence of a crime.