NO DOGS ALLOWED (Without a Warrant): Expanding the Fourth Amendment Sanctity of the Home to Interior Threshold Searches for Tenants in Multiunit Dwellings–United States v. Mathews

Authors

Katelin O'Connor, University of Nebraska College of Law

Abstract

Ambiguous privacy expectations under the Fourth Amendment have left tenants in multiunit dwellings vulnerable and lacking full constitutional protection from the government’s prying eyes. The storied history of Fourth Amendment interpretation lacks clarity regarding what comprises a permissible search and what limitations are placed on a tenant’s reasonable expectation of privacy, particularly concerning the utilization of dogs to conduct sniff searches. As a result, tenants in multiunit dwellings have traditionally received fewer constitutional protections under the Fourth Amendment compared to those who live in single-family, stand-alone homes.

This Note argues the Eighth Circuit, and further, all circuits, should utilize the reasonable-expectation-of-privacy test and the common-law trespassory test concurrently to ensure Fourth Amendment privacy protections for each person equally, regardless of housing type.

Recommended Citation

Katelin O'Connor, NO DOGS ALLOWED (Without a Warrant): Expanding the Fourth Amendment Sanctity of the Home to Interior Threshold Searches for Tenants in Multiunit Dwellings–United States v. Mathews, 101 Neb. L. Rev. (2022)
Available at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/nlr/vol101/iss2/11