Opinion ID: 1798464
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: 596 1. Arrest in a Civil Action.

Text: Under sec. 52.45, Stats., a paternity action is a civil special proceeding; the defendant was arrested as a result of a warrant issued pursuant to sec. 52.25. Neither the Fourth amendment to the United States constitution nor sec. 11, art. I of the Wisconsin constitution distinguishes between civil and criminal cases as far as the issuance of warrants is concerned; we perceive no distinction. The right of an individual to be protected from improper arrests or searches applies with equal vitality to those which stem from civil actions as well as those which stem from criminal actions. The immediate impact on the individual is precisely the same whether the arrest arises from one type of case or the other. See One 1958 Plymouth Sedan v. Pennsylvania (1965), 380 U. S. 693, 85 Sup. Ct. 1246, 14 L. Ed. (2d) 170.