Los Angeles County, California, et al. v. Max Rettele, et al. (550 U.S. 609)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided May 21, 2007 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 550 U.S. 609 · 127 S. Ct. 1989
- Decided
- May 21, 2007
- Term
- October Term 2006
- Vote
- 8–0
- Issue area
- Criminal Procedure
- Disposition
- Reversed and remanded
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
Opinion excerpt
Per Curiam. Deputies of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department obtained a valid warrant to search a house, but they were unaware that the suspects being sought had moved out three months earlier. When the deputies searched the house, they found in a bedroom two residents who were of a different race than the suspects. The deputies ordered these innocent residents, who had been sleeping unclothed, out of bed. The deputies required them to stand for a few minutes before allowing them to dress. The residents brought suit under Rev. Stat. §1979, 42 U. S. C. § 1983, naming the deputies and other parties and accusing them of violating the Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures. The District Court granted summary judgment to all named defendants. The Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed, concluding both that the deputies violated the Fourth Amendment and that they were not entitled to qualified immunity because a reasonable deputy would have stopped the search upon discovering that respondents were of a different race than the suspects and because a reasonable deputy would not have ordered respondents from their bed. We grant the petition for certiorari and reverse the judgment of the Court of Appeals by this summary disposition. I From September to December 2001, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Deputy Dennis Watters…
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