(University of Oregon Law School, 2009) Lunney, Leslie A.
Despite the visceral offensiveness of potential dragnet or selective
police investigations involving the home, all lower federal courts that
have considered the issue, aside from the U.S. Court of Appeals for
the Second Circuit, have concluded that a canine sniff of a private
home is not a “search” under the Fourth Amendment. Therefore, no
warrant, or even suspicion, is required to perform the canine sniff. This Article challenges the legitimacy of that conclusion and argues
that a canine sniff of a private residence—a location that is afforded
stringent Fourth Amendment protection—is a “search” within the
meaning of the Fourth Amendment.
