Torcivia v. Suffolk County: Amicus Briefs Highlight History, Law Behind the Castle Doctrine

New amicus briefs supporting the petition for certiorari filed by PPSA in Torcivia v. Suffolk County urge the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case. The Torcivia case asks whether the police can, citing a special need, gain warrantless access to a home. One of the briefs is a clear statement of principle, the other a fascinating history of the ancient, colonial, and early U.S. law upholding the inviolability of the home.
 
The case involves a New York State man, Wayne Torcivia, who was sent for a psychiatric evaluation after a domestic disturbance call. Torcivia had no history of mental illness, violence, or suicide attempts, but was nevertheless sent to a hospital for a psychological evaluation. When he was cleared to return home by psychiatrists, Torcivia had to negotiate with police to give them warrantless access to his gun safe.
 
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the warrantless entry under a “special needs exception.”
 
The amicus brief from the New Civil Liberties Alliance neatly summarizes the essence of this case. The NCLA brief notes that the Second Circuit distinguished the “special needs exception” from the similar “community caretaker” warrant exception in Caniglia v. Strom. Late last term, the Supreme Court in a 9-0 decision struck down that justification. NCLA writes:
 
“As in Caniglia, officers have made home entries and seizures when there was time to obtain the review, and authorization, of a magistrate.”
 
NCLA noted there was no “exigency” or emergency circumstances. Torcivia was in the hospital and his guns were locked in his safe, posing no immediate danger to himself or to others. NCLA concludes:
 
“The ‘special needs’ concept is unnecessary and the source of confusion. The rule consistent with the Fourth Amendment’s right of the people to be secure in their homes is straightforward and clear: absent exigency or homeowner consent, the executive may not enter a home and seize property without a warrant—which ensures authorization from a neutral and detached magistrate.”
 
Another brief, from the Firearms Policy Coalition and FPC Action Foundation, offers a review of the history of the concept of the sanctity of the home, starting with the Roman lawyer and political philosopher Marcus Tullius Cicero. Cicero asked: “What is more sacred, what more inviolably hedged about by every kind of sanctity, than the home of every individual citizen?”
 
FPC traces the Castle Doctrine to a case in 1499, the first decision to assert that a man’s home is his castle. The brief goes on to trace colonial resistance – sometimes violent – to the intrusions of sheriffs, constables, and British tariff officials. And it documents the intense debate by the framers of the Constitution of the need for a Bill of Rights, including what we now call the Fourth Amendment.
 
Together, the two briefs combine to make a perfect argument. One upholds the immediate and logical conclusion that the Second Circuit’s decision flies directly in the face of Caniglia, while the other details the philosophical underpinnings of the Fourth Amendment.