ANOTHER CHIP OFF THE FOURTH AMENDMENT

CASPER, Wyo. On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court once again chopped a
hunk out of what remains of the Fourth Amendment's guarantee against
unreasonable searches and seizures. A 6-3 majority ruled that a
short-term visitor to a home or apartment doesn't have a reasonable
expectation of privacy -- meaning, of course, that neither does the
homeowner or renter.

A police officer was told by an informant that two men were measuring
out drugs in a garden apartment. The officer managed to get a peek in
the window through a gap in the blinds, saw what he believed to be two
men bagging cocaine, left and came back with a warrant to search the
premises.

According to the Minnesota Supreme Court which had the case first, the
officer climbed over bushes, crouched down by the window, and peered
into the apartment through a small gap in the blinds. The state
supreme court determined that the officer's actions violated the
Fourth Amendment and threw out the conviction.

The nation's highest court disagreed. Chief Justice William Rehnquist
wrote the opinion for the majority. Because the two men engaged in
measuring out cocaine were not overnight guests of the woman who
leased the apartment, they cannot have an expectation of privacy, he
wrote.

While I understand the government's concern about illegal drugs, this
logic slices the law pretty thin. Transparently thin. This is clearly
jurisprudence aimed at a conclusion. The high court was not going to
let these men free, no matter how the Fourth Amendment's protections
had to be twisted.

If the renter had invited a lover over for an afternoon delight, would
there be no reasonable expectation of privacy? Does that mean that
unless the renter asked the lover to stay overnight, the renter would
not be secure from unreasonable searches? What if you invite your
friends into your home in order to plan a political campaign to beat
an incumbent city councilman, could the police peek in your windows to
spy on what the group was planning?

In trashing a visitor's rightful expectation of privacy from the
outside world, the court trashed the homeowner's right too. This
decision creates bad law, law that puts all of us in jeopardy.

Checked-by: Patrick Henry