Constitutional Law—Eighth Circuit Permits Broad Protective Sweep During Execution of Arrest Warrant Inside Suspect’s Home—United States v. Green, 560 F.3d 853 (8th Cir. 2009)

The Fourth Amendment’s proscription against unreasonable searches and seizures effectively limits the federal government’s power to invade an individual’s privacy.  Under certain circumstances, however, courts have deemed searches that protect a police officer or other government agent from danger to be reasonable.  In United States v. Green, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit considered whether an officer exceeded the permissible scope of a protective sweep incident to arrest where the officer, in searching for confederates, seized incriminating evidence that came into plain view after the officer climbed onto a chair to examine the top of a large dresser.  The court held that the officer acted reasonably in protecting himself from danger, and therefore did not contravene the Fourth Amendment. . .