Who Is Sniffing Under Your Bedroom Window? The United States Supreme Court Soon To Decide Whether Police Dog Sniffing Violates The Forth Amendment

It seems as if the United States Supreme Court is dog friendly. The Court will hear two cases from Florida and decide whether “dog sniffing” violates our privacy rights

 under the Fourth Amendment of the Unites States Constitution. 

The Fourth Amendment protects our rights to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures. Without a probable cause or a warrant, police does not have the right to search your vehicle or your property. A dog’s scent can establish probable cause for the law enforcement to search your vehicle or your house. 

The Court is asked to clarify how accurate a dog must be in terms of its past identification of contraband. An incident which occurred at the Supreme Court garage where a dog sniffed out a visitor’s car proved that the dog cannot always be accurate. The reason the dog made a mistake is because the owners of the vehicle left their dog’s tennis ball in the trunk. We understand that your Yorkie can sniff out a hot dog even if you’re hiding it in your palm, but how accurate can dog sniffing be? 

The Court is also asked to clarify whether the police have the right to “dog sniff” someone’s front porch or not. In 2001, the Court ruled, in an opinion written by Justice Antonin Scalia, that police officers violated a homeowner’s rights for privacy by thermal scanning the house from across the street. If the police cannot thermal scan your house from across the street, why should they be allowed to “dog sniff” the front of your porch? 

As a dog friendly culture, I know that most of you don’t mind a good sniff; however, what if instead of your Yorkie, it’s the SWAT team with their German Shepard nosing under your bedroom window.  As the Court hinted during oral arguments, maybe we ought to invest in a "no dogs allowed" sign on our property.

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