] It's a groundbreaking court decision that legal experts
] say will affect everyone: Police officers in Louisiana no
] longer need a search or arrest warrant to conduct a brief
] search of your home or business.

This is a little hard to cipher through. The crimes the perp in question is accused of cloud the issue. Basically, these two officers show up at a residence looking to question someone. They have no warrants of any kind. Someone lets them into the residence, so they go back to the room the person they are looking for lives in. The person isn't there. So they go in and have a look around. They find evidence and submit it.

The police claim they felt at risk, and were worried that the individual might be hiding. Thing is, they weren't executing an arrest warrant, so basically the person in question had every right to hide, and if they felt they were at risk snooping around for him they should have left.

Typically the police are allowed to perform a "protective sweep" of a residence if they are there executing an arrest warrant. Now, in these states, they can execute a "protective sweep" at any time if they feel the situation poses a danger. In this case they were probably justified in feeling there was a danger. However, the fact is that the police consider any situation to be risky, and rightly so. You never know when you might end up in a dicey situation. That means they can perform a search any time they enter any residence for any reason. If they want to search your residence all they have to do is question you. Good by forth.

Whats really disturbing about this is that this is the 5th circuit to come to this conclusion. These rules might already apply to you.

[ That sucks total balls. -k]

TheNewOrleansChannel.com - News - Court Opens Door To Searches Without Warrants