Monday, May 16, 2011

Dark Days in Indiana

Court: No right to resist illegal cop entry into home; NWI.Com

Note: I moved away from our 17th Amendment focus and instead am highlighting a very dark ruling coming out of the Indiana Supreme Court.


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


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


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


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


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


Read the whole article here.

1 comment:

John said...

Exactly the sort of thing that hurts our cause. If the states are ever to regain their place in the hierarchy of things, they must prove themselves worthy and understanding of that place.