US Supreme Court hears oral arguments on probable cause standards for emergency home entries

The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments Wednesday in a case that examines the standards police must meet before entering a home without a warrant.

Case v. Montana arises from a 2021 incident where Montana police entered Trevor Case’s home during a welfare check and shot him. The ensuing lawsuit challenges the emergency aid exception to the Fourth Amendment . The Fourth Amendment protects against “unreasonable searches and seizures” and requires the government to obtain a warrant based on “probable cause” before entering a private residence. However, in the landmark 2006 case Brigham City v. Stuart , the Supreme Court established the “emergency aid exception”, holding that officers may enter a home without a warrant when they have “an objectively reasonable basis for believing tha