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Court: No right to resist illegal cop entry into home

Court: No right to resist illegal cop entry into = home=20

By Dan Carden = dan.carden@nwi.com, (317)=20 637-9078 nwitimes.com | Posted: = Friday, May 13, 2011 3:56 = pm |=20 Loading=85=20

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INDIANAPOLIS | Overturning a common law dating back to the English = Magna=20 Carta of 1215, the Indiana Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Hoosiers = have no=20 right to resist unlawful police entry into their homes.

In a 3-2 decision, Justice Steven David writing for the court = said if a=20 police officer wants to enter a home for any reason or no reason at all, = a=20 homeowner cannot do anything to block the officer's entry.

"We believe ... a right to resist an unlawful police entry into a = home is=20 against public policy and is incompatible with modern Fourth Amendment=20 jurisprudence," David said. "We also find that allowing resistance = unnecessarily=20 escalates the level of violence and therefore the risk of injuries to = all=20 parties involved without preventing the arrest."

David said a person arrested following an unlawful entry by police=20 still can be released on bail and has plenty of opportunities to = protest=20 the illegal entry through the court system. 

The court's decision stems from a Vanderburgh County case in which = police=20 were called to investigate a husband and wife arguing outside their = apartment.

When the couple went back inside their apartment, the husband told = police=20 they were not needed and blocked the doorway so they could not = enter.=20 When an officer entered anyway, the husband shoved the officer = against a=20 wall. A second officer then used a stun gun on the husband and = arrested=20 him.

Professor Ivan Bodensteiner, of Valparaiso University School of Law, = said the=20 court's decision is consistent with the idea of preventing violence.

"It's not surprising that they would say there's no right to beat the = hell=20 out of the officer," Bodensteiner said. "(The court is saying) we would = rather=20 opt on the side of saying if the police act wrongfully in entering your = house=20 your remedy is under law, to bring a civil action against the = officer."

Justice Robert Rucker, a Gary native, and Justice Brent Dickson, a = Hobart=20 native, dissented from the ruling, saying the court's decision runs = afoul of the=20 Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

"In my view the majority sweeps with far too broad a brush by = essentially=20 telling Indiana citizens that government agents may now enter their = homes=20 illegally -- that is, without the necessity of a warrant, consent = or=20 exigent circumstances," Rucker said. "I disagree."

Rucker and Dickson suggested if the court had limited its permission = for=20 police entry to domestic violence situations they would have supported = the=20 ruling.

But Dickson said, "The wholesale abrogation of the historic right of = a person=20 to reasonably resist unlawful police entry into his dwelling is = unwarranted and=20 unnecessarily broad."

This is the second major Indiana Supreme Court ruling this=20 week involving police entry into a home.

On Tuesday, the court said police serving a warrant may enter a=20 home without knocking if officers decide circumstances justify = it. Prior to that ruling, police serving a warrant would have to = obtain a=20 judge's permission to enter without knocking. 

Copyright = 2011=20 nwitimes.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,=20 broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

3D""=20

Posted in Govt-and-po= litics,=20 Gary, Hobart, Indiana<= /A>, Valparaiso<= /A> on=20 Friday, May 13, 2011 3:56 pm Updated: 4:00 pm. | = Tags: Indiana,=20 State = Government, Courts,=20 Indiana=20 Supreme Court, Police,=20 Warrant,=20 Fourth=20 Amendment, Steven=20 David, Brent=20 Dickson, Robert=20 Rucker, Domestic=20 Violence, Constitution,=20 Constitutional=20 Law, Ivan=20 Bodensteiner, Valparaislo=20 University, Valparaiso=20 University School Of Law

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