Will Grigg?s Liberty Minute

May 17, 2011

Narcotics officers in Lexington, Kentucky set up a ?controlled buy? of crack cocaine in an impoverished neighborhood. Uniformed police pursuing the suspect went to the wrong door.

After detecting the aroma of marijuana from the apartment, the officers demanded entry. Hearing sounds from inside, the officers kicked in the door, eventually finding a small amount of narcotics.
The Kentucky Supreme Court ruled that the officers didn?t have probable cause to justify a warrantless search. In a decision announced May 16, the U.S. Supreme Court , overturned that ruling upholding the actions of the police.

?How `secure? do our homes remain if police, armed with no warrant, can pound on doors at will and, on hearing sounds indicative of things moving, forcibly enter and search for evidence of unlawful activity?? replied Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in her dissenting opinion. ?The court today arms the police with a way routinely to dishonor the Fourth Amendment?s warrant requirement in drug cases.

In lieu of presenting their evidence to a neutral magistrate, police officers may now knock, listen, then break the door down, never mind that they had ample time to obtain a warrant.?

Let us take back the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free.