Opinion ID: 2975640
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Katz v. United States Framework

Text: The Fourth Amendment states in relevant part, “the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrant shall issue but upon probable cause.” U.S. Const. amend. IV. Katz v. United States, 389 U.S. 347 (1967), provides the standard two-part test governing Fourth Amendment search violations. Specifically, (1)whether the individual has manifested a subjective expectation of privacy in the object of the challenged search; and (2) whether society is willing to recognize that expectation as reasonable. Widgren v. Maple Grove Township, 429 F.3d 575, 578 (6th Cir. 2005). The Sixth Circuit in Widgren further delineates the second prong of the Katz test. The second prong consists of two considerations. The first consideration is “what a person had an expectation of privacy in.” Id. The second consideration examines “what the person wanted to protect his privacy from.” Id. at 579. This requires an examination of the degree of government intrusion in (i) the methods used in the search, and (ii) the purpose for the search. Id. at 583. Based on the facts of this case, there was an unconstitutional search of Taylor’s home. Here, there is no disagreement as to whether Taylor manifested a subjective expectation of privacy. He most certainly did. It is with respect to the second prong of the Katz test, however, that I disagree with the panel. First, Taylor’s expectation of privacy in his home and the curtilage surrounding it satisfies the initial element of the second prong of the Katz test. Part one of the second prong of the Katz test looks at what Taylor had an expectation of privacy in. Widgren, 429 F.3d at 578. Principally, “[t]his inquiry centers on ‘whether the human relationships that normally exist at the place inspected are based on intimacy, confidentiality, trust or solitude and hence give rise to a “reasonable” expectation of privacy.’” Id. at 578-579 (citations omitted). Taylor’s expectation of privacy in his home and the curtilage surrounding his home satisfies this standard. Taylor’s home is a place where such intimate relationships exist and take place. Indeed, the Supreme Court accords special status to the sanctity of the home: The Fourth Amendment’s protection of the home has never been tied to measurement of the quality or quantity of information obtained. In Silverman, for example, we made clear that any physical invasion of the structure of the home, “by even a fraction of an inch,” was too much, 365 U.S. at 512, and there is certainly no exception to the warrant requirement for the officer who barely cracks open the front door and sees nothing but the non-intimate rug on the vestibule floor. In the home, our cases show, all details are intimate details, because the entire area is held safe from prying government eyes. Kyllo v. United States, 533 U.S. 27, 37 (2001) (emphasis in original). Therefore, Rose’s peering into the home, garage, and bedroom window, was peering into a place that the Court recognizes intimate No. 05-2732 Taylor v. Mich. Dep’t of Natural Resources, et al. Page 8 relationships occur. Taylor’s expectation of privacy was accordingly valid, thus satisfying the first element of the second prong of the Katz test. Likewise, the second element of the second prong of the Katz test is also satisfied. In evaluating this element, our “inquiry focuses on the government intrusion at issue.” Widgren, 429 F.3d at 579. This requires assessing the degree of the government intrusion by “addressing both the methods used and the purpose for the intrusion.” Id. at 583. The methods used in this case were sufficiently intrusive to categorize the search as unconstitutional. This was more than a mere naked-eye inspection of the exterior of the house, as was the case in Widgren. Here, Rose did in fact touch and look into the house. See id. at 585 (noting that the property assessor “did not touch enter or look into the house.”). Furthermore, Rose obtained neither consent nor a warrant before breaching the curtilage of Taylor’s property. Id. (stating that “tax appraisers would be well advised to obtain consent or a warrant as a matter of course before breaching the curtilage because, in many instances, such an intrusion may be a Fourth Amendment search”); see also id. at 583 (stating “breaching the curtilage and other trespass, though not necessarily determinative, are also relevant to the degree of government intrusion.”). While it may be true that a passing policeman need not avert his eyes, here Rose walked up to various windows in Taylor’s garage and home, pressed his face and hands against these windows and peered inward; what this method lacks in subterfuge and advanced technology it makes up for in sheer flagrancy. “Like the methods used, the purpose for the interference bears upon the intrusiveness of government action.” Id. Neither party disputes the fact that Rose’s initial purpose was a lawful one. Rose was on the land investigating a complaint about the fencing on Taylor’s property. And while one might applaud Rose for his concern about a potential intruder on Taylor’s property, this purpose does not sanction Rose’s search. Noting that the property check was brief, involved a low degree of intrusion, and was conducted in the middle of the afternoon, the district court opines that Rose was not carrying out a criminal investigation, which would carry with it the imprimatur of “suspicion of crime.” Taylor v. Humphries, 402 F. Supp. 2d 840, 847 (W.D. Mich. 2005) (citations omitted). I disagree. Rose states that his concern was that an intruder might be on the premises, a concern that was heightened when he saw the curtains drawn, which led him to believe that a burglar might be present. The purpose of this search then became a criminal investigation. Rose was searching for evidence of a burglar; to wit, he checked all the doors to see if they were open, and he checked all the windows to see if anyone had broken in. The fact that Rose was searching for someone other than Taylor does not make it any less a search of Taylor’s home. Indeed, Rose might just as easily have come across a marijuana plant growing in Taylor’s bedroom (notably, at oral argument, counsel for DefendantAppellees was unable to offer an answer as to how such an encounter and subsequent arrest would not be an unconstitutional search).1 Given that, Rose’s argument amounts to “no harm done.” While the harm in terms of damages may in fact be small, it is no less an unconstitutional search. See, e.g., People v. Haddad, 122 Mich.App. 229, 230 (Mich. Ct. App. 1982) (affirming the trial court’s determination that an “officer had no right to peer through the [defendant’s ]bedroom window when [the officer ]only had a suspicion of an assault and battery and a mere suspicion as to the safety of a person who might have been present.”). 1 The exchange went as follows: I asked, “You agree, I think, that if the officer had happened to see, say, a marijuana plant growing inside the house when he looked in the window, that that evidence couldn’t be used to convict the homeowner of growing plants. So, if that’s the case, then why isn’t this a Fourth Amendment violations?” Counsel for Defendants-Appellees first noted the complexity of Fourth Amendment jurisprudence, and then answered, “I thought I might get asked a question like that from you, and I thought about it, and I thought about it, and I’m not sure what the answer is.” No. 05-2732 Taylor v. Mich. Dep’t of Natural Resources, et al. Page 9