But I do this time. As does
Mike Walsh at NRO:
[F]rom the Chicago Tribune:
The Supreme Court on Monday gave police more leeway to break into residences in search of illegal drugs.
The justices in an 8-1 decision said officers who loudly knock on a door and then hear sounds suggesting evidence is being destroyed may break down the door and enter without a search warrant.
Residents who “attempt to destroy evidence have only themselves to blame” when police burst in, said Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr.
Sorry, but I’m with Ruth Bader Ginsburg on this one:
In a lone dissent, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said she feared the ruling in a Kentucky case will give police an easy way to ignore the 4th Amendment. “Police officers may not knock, listen and then break the door down,” she said, without violating the 4th Amendment. . . . in the Kentucky case, [the police] entered the wrong apartment, raising the issue of what is permissible in situations where police have reason to believe evidence is being destroyed.
After all, it’s not like the police ever make a mistake, or anything: . . . in the Kentucky case, [the police] entered the wrong apartment, raising the issue of what is permissible in situations where police have reason to believe evidence is being destroyed.
That’s right — the guy who wound up in the can wasn’t even the guy they were looking for in the first place. Details, details: Alito said the police conduct in this case “was entirely lawful,” and they were justified in breaking down the door to prevent the destruction of the evidence.
“When law enforcement officers who are not armed with a warrant knock on a door, they do no more than any private citizen may do,” he wrote. A resident need not respond, he added. But the sounds of people moving and perhaps toilets being flushed could justify police entering without a warrant, he added.
Moral of this story: If you hear the cops at the door, quietly get off the john, and whatever you do, don’t flush. Read the whole account of the case, which ought to get your blood boiling. Here’s the kicker, from Ginsburg: Ginsburg, however, said the court’s approach “arms the police with a way routinely to dishonor the 4th Amendment’s warrant requirement in drug cases.” She said the police did not face a “genuine emergency” and should not have been allowed to enter the apartment without a warrant.
Yep, sometimes the commies are right and the "moral majority" are dead wrong. And Alito has simply confirmed what I've always suspected. He's an ass-licking tool.