A GOOD DAY FOR THE FOURTH AMENDMENT.

• Author: Root, Damon
• Position: LAW

IN 2019, A California appeals court said a police officer may always enter a suspect's home without a warrant if the officer is in "hot pursuit" and has probable cause to believe the suspect has committed a misdemeanor.

In June, the U.S. Supreme Court gave that decision the benchslap it deserved. "We are not eager--more the reverse--to print a new permission slip for entering the home without a warrant," declared Justice Elena Kagan in Lange v. California.

The case originated when a California Highway Patrol officer observed Arthur Gregory Lange repeatedly honking his horn and playing his car stereo at a loud volume, both of which are traffic infractions at worst. The officer followed Lange's car and switched on his overhead lights just a few seconds before Lange pulled into his own driveway. Lange, who said he never saw the officer's lights in his rearview mirror, entered his driveway and pulled into his garage. The officer parked, exited his vehicle, stuck his foot under the garage door to prevent it from closing, followed Lange in, and had him perform field sobriety tests, which ultimately led to a DUI charge.

The state has "argued that the pursuit of a suspected misdemeanant always qualifies as an exigent circumstance authorizing a warrantless home entry," Kagan observed in her majority opinion, which was joined in full by Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett. But that position ran afoul of both SCOTUS precedent and...