NCJ Number
238203
Journal
Criminal Justice Studies Volume: 24 Issue: 4 Dated: December 2011 Pages: 321-327
Date Published
December 2011
Length
7 pages
Annotation
This article examines search and seizure laws and the fourth amendment.
Abstract
In Kentucky v. King (2011), the Supreme Court held that police officers may enter a residence under the 'exigent circumstances' exception to the fourth amendment's search warrant requirement even when it is the police activity which creates the exigent circumstance. This case is the latest in a series of decisions in which the Supreme Court has weakened the protections of the fourth amendment in the interests of police efficiency and effectiveness. In this paper, the authors take the position the Supreme Court erred in its decision; a colleague Martin O'Connor takes the opposite position. This is the latest in a annual 'point-counterpoint' series of articles on recent Supreme Court decisions affecting criminal justice. (Published Abstract)