The answer is generally no. A dog sniffing outside your home is an intrusion within the Fourth Amendment’s ban on unreasonable searches and seizures. The area immediately surrounding and associated with your home is called “the curtilage.” The exact dimensions of the curtilage depend on the facts of each situation, but if something is inside the curtilage, it falls within Fourth Amendment protections. Therefore, the police must obtain a warrant before bringing a dog to sniff immediately outside your house.

In State of Florida v Jardine, police used a drug-sniffing dog on a homeowner’s porch to uncover marijuana plants. The U.S. Supreme Court held the search illegal because it came uninvited within the curtilage of the home.

Following the Jardine rule, an Illinois Appellate Court refused to uphold a search where police had entered an apartment building through a common locked door that had been left partially ajar. The police used a dog to sniff for drugs outside the defendant’s apartment. (The state acknowledged the search was illegal after Jardine, but believed a doctrine known as the good faith exception applied because the officer relied in good faith on the law prior to Jardine. The Illinois court disagreed. See People v Brown.)

In another Illinois decision, the court struck down the use of a narcotics dog to sweep the halls of an apartment building in the middle of the night. (See People v Burns.) The court noted that that the police were not simply walking down the sidewalk when the dog happened to smell the drugs. Furthermore, there is no implicit invitation for visitors to come to defendant’s front door at that time, and thus police could not legally approach her door without a warrant.

If you are charged with a crime, contact an experienced criminal law attorney immediately. An experienced attorney can evaluate your case for your best possible defense. If the police search was illegal, an attorney can bring a motion asking the judge to suppress the results of the search. Even if the police followed procedures correctly and the evidence against you is overwhelming, an attorney who is respected in the courthouse may be able to negotiate a better plea agreement then you could on your own.

If you have questions about this or another related Illinois criminal or traffic matter, please contact Matt Keenan at 847-568-0160 or email matt@mattkeenanlaw.com.

(Besides Skokie, Matt Keenan also serves the communities of Arlington Heights, Chicago, Deerfield, Des Plaines, Evanston, Glenview, Morton Grove, Mount Prospect, Niles, Northbrook, Park Ridge, Rolling Meadows, Wilmette and Winnetka.)

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When it comes to garbage, your expectation of privacy can depend on where the trash is located. If your garbage is awaiting pick up in the alley, police will likely have a right to investigate. If your garbage was still within “the curtilage” of your home, however, police may first need a warrant.

Generally, police cannot enter a private residence unless they have emergency or exigent circumstances, consent or a warrant. The curtilage of your home is included in this Fourth Amendment protection. The curtilage is defined as the land immediately surrounding and associated with your home. The scope of the curtilage is generally determined by whether you reasonably expect the area to be treated like your home. For example, the area within your fenced-in yard would be a curtilage. The case law in this area is complex and depends a great deal on the specific facts of each situation.

Therefore, if your garbage was still in your garage or next to your back door, the police may require a warrant before they can poke through it. (However, if the police are otherwise lawfully within the curtilage of your home and happen to see something in plain view, they can investigate the object.)

This protection in garbage applies even if you are a guest in someone’s home. Therefore, if you are staying at a friend’s and you threw contraband in their garbage, you have a privacy expectation until about the point the garbage is set outside for pick up.

If you have questions about this or another related Illinois criminal or traffic matter, please contact Matt Keenan at 847-568-0160 or email matt@mattkeenanlaw.com.

See People v Kofron.

(Besides Skokie, Matt Keenan also serves the communities of Arlington Heights, Chicago, Deerfield, Des Plaines, Evanston, Glenview, Morton Grove, Mount Prospect, Niles, Northbrook, Park Ridge, Rolling Meadows, Wilmette and Winnetka.)

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While you don’t condone the use of drugs and the Swiss knife was an oversight, you think the school overreacted. Anyway, doesn’t your son have any rights? And what can you do now?

While Illinois schools are bound by the Fourth Amendment prohibition against unreasonable searches and seizures, they may have greater leeway in conducting a search than your local police. For one thing, a school official need not obtain a search warrant provided he or she has reasonable grounds for believing that the search will turn up evidence that your child has violated school rules. For another, because lockers are considered school property, the school is allowed to randomly search your child’s locker.

But this doesn’t mean that a school can get away with everything. The school cannot search your car without your permission if your child is a minor. If your child is an adult, he or she must consent to the search unless the school obtains a warrant. The school must also point to specific facts, which led officials to infer that your child had done something wrong.

If your child is being disciplined and/or prosecuted as a result of a search or seizure, there may still be hope. In Illinois, a school generally cannot suspend or expel your child without some form of hearing. Your are also entitled to a hearing in the criminal or juvenile court. An attorney can help evaluate your child’s case in order to determine the best defense strategy before the school and the criminal court. Did the school have the specific, articulated facts required to justify the search? Can the search of the car be suppressed because the school lacked the appropriate consent? Does your child have exclusive access to his locker or could someone else have slipped the drugs into it?

Whether the incident is or isn’t charged in a criminal or juvenile court, you and your child should not communicate with anyone but an attorney about the incident, whether by speaking, texting or emailing. Statements made to friends could end up as evidence against your child. Equally important, you and your child should refrain from discussing the incident on any Facebook, Myspace or similar pages. Any references to the incident should be removed.

If you have questions about your situation, feel free to contact Matt Keenan at 847-568-0160 or email matt@mattkeenanlaw.com.

See our related school law blog at http://northshoreschoollaw.com.

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