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RE: Supreme Court Victory

I think Mr. Morgan's interpretation of Randolf is a little too broad. The ruling does NOT require that all occupants present agree to waive their 4th Amendment rights before the police enter the residence. It only prohibits police entry when an occupant affirmatively refuses to agree to the search. It does not invalidate circumstances such as in Illinois v. Rodriguez (1990), where police are admitted into a residence by a friend or roommate while the other occupant is sleeping.

Justice Souter attempted (questionably) to justify this limitation based on "widely shared social expectations". Apparently, Justice Souter never had a college roommate with undesireable friends.

I am afraid that I have to share the following view with Chief Justice Roberts: "... the majority has taken a great deal of pain in altering Fourth Amendment doctrine, for precious little (if any) gain in privacy."

-David

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