Abstract
The proliferation of television shows such as "Cops" evidences how common it has become for members of the media to accompany law enforcement officers while they perform their daily duties. This recent proliferation has sparked questions as to when the media's involvement in law enforcement impinges on an individual's constitutional rights. The federal courts of appeals have disagreed over whether the Fourth Amendment is violated when the media tags along with law enforcement officers executing a warrant in a private home. In Wilson v. Layne and Hanlon v. Berger, the United States Supreme Court settled the debate over this issue by holding that the presence of the media in a private home, while law enforcement officers execute a warrant, constitutes a violation of an individual's Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures.4 The Court also held, however, that the state of the law was not clearly established, so the officers involved in these cases were entitled to qualified immunity.' While the Court's decision "clearly established" that media ride-alongs to private homes violate the Fourth Amendment, it left open the question of how far beyond the home the ride-along prohibition extends and to what extent the media will be liable for its participation in such events.
Recommended Citation
Lynn S. Brackman,
Not-So-Candid Camera, Please: Law Enforcement Officers Violate the Fourth Amendment When the Media Tags Along ,
65 Mo. L. Rev.
(2000)
Available at: https://scholarship.law.missouri.edu/mlr/vol65/iss3/4