Pennsylvania
SEARCH AND SEIZURE
The 2004 drug case called John Doe v. Groody involved the search of a suspected methamphetamine dealer's house in Pennsylvania.
The warrant named only the man, who goes by the name John Doe in the appeals decision. But police also searched his wife, Jane Doe, and 10-year-old daughter, Mary Doe.
A female Pennsylvania traffic officer escorted the females to a second-floor bathroom, where they were ordered to lift their shirts, drop their pants and turn around. No contraband was found.
In supporting the search, Alito wrote that police acted in a common sense and realistic manner in searching everyone in the house. Alito argued that the police deserved protection from a lawsuit stemming from the search.
"I share the majority's visceral dislike of the intrusive search of John Doe's young daughter, but it is a sad fact that drug dealers sometimes use children to carry out their business and to avoid prosecution," Alito wrote. "I know of no legal principle that bars an officer from searching a child (in a proper manner) if a warrant has been issued and the warrant is not illegal on its face."
But the 2-1 decision in the case agreed with the District Court to allow the lawsuit against four Pennsylvania officers involved. Judge Michael Chertoff, who has since become secretary of homeland security, wrote the opinion that said the intrusive search went significantly beyond what the magistrate granted.
For example, police are allowed to frisk suspects for weapons - for safety. But the females were not considered violent threats.
Chertoff wrote that the warrant wasn't ambiguous or contradictory. If dealers routinely hide drugs with relatives, the affidavit from police seeking the warrant didn't describe that. Chertoff wrote that he searched in vain for any justification to search the females.
"None appears," Chertoff wrote. "A search warrant for a premises does not constitute a license to search everyone inside. The record does not disclose any independent basis to suspect Jane Doe - let alone 10-year-old Mary Doe - of drug activity."
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