Carolina Journal’s Michael Lowery reports here on a North Carolina Court of Appeals decision that cuts into the Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable search and seizure by using a “community caregiving” exception. It is decisions like this one that, step by step, chip away at liberty.
Appeals Court Judge Robert C. Hunter described the rationale behind the exception as “the desire to give police officers the flexibility to help citizens in need or protect the public even if the prerequisite suspicion of criminal activity which would otherwise be necessary for a constitutional intrusion is nonexistent.”
The appeals court addressed whether such a community caregiving exception should apply in this case. The court adopted an analytical approach used in Wisconsin. This requires the state to establish all three findings:
• a search or seizure within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment has occurred;
• under the totality of the circumstances, an objectively reasonable basis for a community caretaking function has been shown; and
• the public need or interest outweighs the intrusion upon the privacy of the individual.The appeals court answered “yes” to all three questions in Smathers’ case and allowed the evidence to be used against her. Specifically, the court noted that the collision occurred at night in a rural area, and noted that the deputy’s concern that Smathers might need help outweighed both the lack of evidence that her car suffered major damage and the substantial intrusion on her liberty.
And now that “community caregiving” has the legal seal of approval, expect it to be used more and more often.Co
