Bailey v. United States (11-770)
argument 11-770Bailey v. United States
Supreme Court of the United States
1h 0m
7 speakers
8 chapters
transcribed 5 days ago
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What is the Summers exception and how does it affect police detentions during a search warrant?
We will hear argument next in case eleven seven seventy, Shonan Bailey versus United States. Mr. Shan McGam.
Thank you, Mr. Chief Justice, and may it please the Court. In Michigan versus Summers, this Court established a categorical exception to the default Fourth Amendment requirement of probable cause. Under Summers, officers executing a search warrant for contraband may detain individuals they encounter at the scene while they are in the course of executing the warrant. This case presents the question whether the Summers exception also permits officers to detain individuals who have left the scene before the warrant is executed. Because individuals who have left the scene do not pose an immediate threat to the safe and efficient completion of the search, the Court of Appeals erred by permitting their detention absent probable cause or even individualized suspicion.
Its judgment should therefore be reversed.
The two tests, yours seemed to be the immediate vicinity test. and the second circuit is as soon as practical tests. Uh your adversaries point out that the Second Circuit test actually focuses on the police officers' conduct, which should be the focus of reasonableness or unreasonableness. Your test just creates an artificial line. that is subject to as much play as the other. Why isn't the focus on police conduct the right focus?
Well let me explain, Justice Setemeyer, first the sort of theoretical basis for why we're offering this line, and second say a word about the comparative merits of the two tests. First of all, with regard to the theoretical basis for the line, our fundamental submission to this court is that Summers does not create a police entitlement. It is instead a rule of necessity and should be confined to situations in which a detention serves search related purposes. And in our view, the justifications for a detention evaporate once an individual has left the immediate vicinity of the premises. And again, that's because in those circumstances a detention serves no interest in ensuring the safe and efficient completion of the search.
Because the individual poses no immediate threat to the safe and efficient completion of the search.
And what is the immediate vicinity? How would you define that?
Well, ordinarily the immediate vicinity will be the physical bounds of the property. But there may be circumstances in which an individual who is just outside the physical bounds of the property should nevertheless be detained. Maybe, but it
certainly is. I mean that was Summers, wasn't it?
Well, in Summers itself, the individual was on the premises, just outside the house that was going to be searched. And the officers were, in the government's words in that case, approaching the property. Yeah, he wasn't on the premises, he was on the sidewalk, right? Well he was actually on uh he was on the property because he was on a sidewalk that connected the front steps to the public sidewalk in front of the house. The officers were approaching the house, uh about to effectually He was pretty clearly within the cartilage, Justice Scalia.
You said in the the the difference is there's no immediate threat to the officers here. But there is a threat, I suppose. I mean if he finds out about the search and and comes back, if he sees the officers outside uh uh his his dwelling, if there's somebody in the dwelling who can notify him uh send him a message that the police are searching and he can get Confederates can come back. Um It seems to me that you're requiring that there be a larger number of police present at the site conducting the search. being lookouts for anybody that might come back. being able to detain people who are leaving as they approach There's no immediate threat, but there's certainly a threat.
If anything, it's the government's approach that requires a greater number of officers at the site, because under the government's approach you have the two officers who conduct the detention while a separate group of officers execute the search. And it's really for that reason just to see the Well it
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the Summers exception and how does it affect police detentions during a search warrant?
0:01–9:09
2
How do the parties define the “immediate vicinity” of a property for the purposes of detention?
9:09–17:16
3
Why do the petitioners argue that detaining individuals who have left the scene is unconstitutional?
17:16–25:01
4
What are the three law‑enforcement interests that the Supreme Court identified in Summers?
25:01–32:30
5
How does the government propose extending Summers to cover people with an observed connection to the premises?
32:30–39:40
6
What role does the Terry stop doctrine play in the debate over post‑search‑warrant detentions?
39:40–46:31
7
Why do some justices worry that an expanded Summers rule would create an overly broad categorical rule?
46:31–52:05
8
What is the final position of the petitioners regarding the scope of Summers and its application to departing occupants?
52:05–1:00:34