William Trevor Case v. State of Montana  “The poorest man may, in his cottage, bid defiance to all the forces of the Crown. It may be frail; its roof may shake; the wind may blow through it; the storm may enter; the rain may enter; but the King of England may not enter …” William Pitt the Elder, 1763 The U.S. Supreme Court in 2021 reaffirmed the sanctity of the home in Caniglia v. Strom, restricting warrantless entry into a home for “community caretaking” in order to conduct a wellness check on an American in his or her home. Despite this clear precedent, the Supreme Court of Montana allowed warrantless entry into William Case’s home under the “community caretaker” exception supported by a wildly lenient standard that merely requires “specific and articulable facts.” (In this instance, Case v. Montana, Case’s ex-girlfriend reported to police that she thought Case might be suicidal.) On Monday evening, PPSA filed a brief asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review Montana’s decision and preserve the Caniglia standard. The creeping expansion of the “community caretaking” exception extends far beyond the law. Common law has long held that officers could enter a home without a warrant only to apprehend a fleeing felon, or if police witnessed a fight or other event that could lead to imminent harm. There is no law from the Founding-era that would have allowed the police to enter a person’s home without a warrant for “community-caretaking.” PPSA told the Supreme Court: “Another powerful reason to grant review is the diluting effect such a low bar for emergency aid searches would cause in other contexts – especially regarding electronic devices … It seems inevitable that lowering the burden for warrantless home invasion would lower the burdens for warrantless invasion of all other repositories or private information.” If the Montana Supreme Court’s ruling holds, this camel’s nose of community caretaking will threaten to admit not just the whole camel but other strange beasts. What is at stake is ultimately not just the long-held “castle and fortress” view of home privacy that traces back to English common law. It is also that an entry into a home will naturally lead to the next logical step – to “check-in” on someone’s well-being by breaking into the contents of their smartphone or other electronic devices. Ninety-eight percent of Americans own a cellphone, and 91 percent own a smartphone. The Supreme Court found that in Riley v. California (2014) a “phone not only contains in digital form many sensitive records previously found in the home; it also contains a broad array of private information never found in a home in any form.” Millions of Americans have sensitive information in their phones – apps for alcohol, drug, and gambling addictions; apps for prayer requests; apps for pregnancy symptoms; apps for financial issues; and apps for romance. Cellphones can track Americans’ location, and data that reveals where a person worships, banks, organizes political activities, and a network of friends and associates. If the government may enter the home without a warrant based only on a reasonable belief that an emergency exists – far short of probable cause – the government will surely treat electronic sources of information the same way. The expansion of this doctrine will pose an even greater threat to privacy and the ultimate integrity of the Fourth Amendment. We told the Supreme Court: “The insidious branding almost writes itself: ‘Big Brother’ may be ‘watching you,’ but it is for your own good!” For all these reasons, PPSA urges the Court to grant the petition and hear this case. Comments are closed.
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