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45 New Eng. L. Rev. 7 (2010-2011)
Step outside, Please: Warrantless Doorway Arrests and the Problem of Constructive Entry

handle is hein.journals/newlr45 and id is 9 raw text is: Articles Step Outside, Please - Warrantless Doorway Arrests and the Problem of Constructive Entry STEVEN B. Dow* ABSTRACT The U.S. Supreme Court has established two sets of Fourth Amendment rules governing felony arrests: one set governs public arrests, and another set governs in-home arrests. Under United States v. Watson, police may arrest a suspect in public when there is probable cause to believe that person has committed a crime; no warrant is required. Under Payton v. New York, police may not enter a dwelling to carry out a routine felony arrest without first obtaining a warrant from a judicial official. This warrant requirement is a manifestation of the heightened level of protection accorded to individual privacy in a home. With increasing frequency, some police have evaded the warrant requirement by engaging in tactics outside a home that coerce a suspect to exit the home in order to carry out a warrantless public arrest. Courts are deeply divided over whether this violates the Payton rule. Some lower federal appellate courts and state courts find a violation of the Fourth Amendment in such tactics under the doctrine of constructive entry but disagree over the circumstances in which this doctrine applies. The result is great uncertainty over this critical Fourth Amendment issue. In exploring the constructive entry doctrine, this Article analyzes it within the context of the arrest rules as well as the broader implications of the Payton decision. It analyzes how the doctrine is linked to and supported Associate Professor of Law, Michigan State University, School of Criminal Justice; Ph.D., The University of Michigan; M.A., The University of Michigan; J.D., Ohio State University. I would like to thank Linda L. Dow for her valuable help with editing and proofreading this Article.

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