Opinion ID: 200436
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Seizure of Residence

Text: 20 The Towers also assert that the defendants unreasonably seized their property by remaining in their home after Tower had been removed. A `seizure' of property occurs when there is some meaningful interference with an individual's possessory interests in that property. United States v. Jacobsen, 466 U.S. 109, 113, 104 S.Ct. 1652, 80 L.Ed.2d 85 (1984). However, even if defendants' presence in the home did constitute a seizure, it was not an unreasonable one. See U.S. Const. amend. IV; Soldal v. Cook County, 506 U.S. 56, 61-62, 113 S.Ct. 538, 121 L.Ed.2d 450 (1992). In circumstances such as this, we balance the privacy-related and law enforcement-related concerns to determine if the intrusion was reasonable. Illinois v. McArthur, 531 U.S. 326, 331, 121 S.Ct. 946, 148 L.Ed.2d 838 (2001). The defendants remained in the Towers' home to preserve the safety of its remaining occupants: the Towers' eleven-month-old and three-year-old children, Billy and Patricia. Because the government has a compelling interest in the welfare of children, see Watterson v. Page, 987 F.2d 1, 8 (1st Cir. 1993), we find that no Fourth Amendment violation occurred. 21 The plaintiffs say, however, that Tower was not voluntarily absent from the home. Certainly Tower's arrest and detainment were not of his choosing. Nevertheless, the fact that he would have preferred to remain at home with his children rather than in police custody did not render his absence from the home any less real. The defendants remained in the home to care for the Towers' younger children. The fact that Tower was involuntarily removed from the home on charges of assaulting his older children does not strengthen his argument.