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Is there an exception to the community caretaking exception?


Asked by Derek Bender on Dec 03, 2021 FAQ



Although the United States Supreme Court has limited the community caretaking exception to instances involving injured or unresponsive motor vehicle operators, state courts in California and elsewhere have extended it to dwellings. The caretaker exception is not without limits, however.
Thereof,
Either way, the community caretaking exception to the Fourth Amendment has prompted confusion among courts over whether it must be limited to vehicles, or whether it gives police an additional reason to enter homes without a warrant.
Additionally, “The name ‘community caretaking exception’ is seductive because it helps convince the public that a search is more justified or proper than it really is,” says Little Rock, Ark., attorney John Wesley Hall Jr., author of the treatise Search and Seizure.
And,
While the Supreme Court limited the extent of community caretaking to vehicles, state courts and the federal circuits are split over whether to expand the exception to homes. In January, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled in State v.
Subsequently,
But the New Jersey high court conceded that “the breadth of the community caretaking doctrine has been the subject of much discussion.” Some courts confine community caretaking to vehicle searches. Others suggest it can justify warrantless searches of the home if there is a reasonable belief there is a particular emergency or exigency.