At issue in the case was whether police may enter a person's home in order to safeguard the homeowner from potential harm.

Transcript

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

Just what sort of emergency allows police to enter your home without a warrant? That was the question before the U.S. Supreme Court today. And it led to a lively argument in a case that involved police seizing a man who had threatened suicide and confiscating his guns for several months. NPR legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg reports.

NINA TOTENBERG, BYLINE: The court's imagination seemed endless today as the justices presented hypotheticals that involved rescuing everything from screaming babies to cats in a tree to a waterlogged Van Gogh painting. The actual case before the court involved a heated argument between a long-married couple, Edward and Kim Caniglia. He brought out a gun and told her to shoot him and put him out of his misery. Then he left the house in a huff. She hid the gun and spent the night at a motel.

The next morning, unable to reach her husband by phone, she asked the police to escort her home because she was afraid he might have harmed himself. Police found the husband on the front porch and sent him for a psychological evaluation. Later that day, doctors concluded he was not a threat to himself or others and released him. In the meantime, the police had confiscated his guns and ammunition, so he sued, alleging an illegal seizure and search of his home. The lower courts ruled that the police could enter the home under the so-called community caretaking exception to the Constitution's warrant requirement.

Representing Mr. Caniglia, lawyer Shay Dvoretzky said that an exception like that would eviscerate the warrant protections of the Fourth Amendment. Chief Justice Roberts - suppose an elderly neighbor doesn't show up for a planned weekly dinner. She's never late. She isn't answering her phone. And her back door is open. So neighbors call the police. Can the police enter the house to check up on the missing neighbor?

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JOHN ROBERTS: Is that enough?

SHAY DVORETZKY: No, I think that alone would not be enough.

ROBERTS: Maybe she dies, the difference between 8:00 at night and 8:00 the next day.

TOTENBERG: Would the situation be different if the cop was small-town Andy from Mayberry versus big-city Kojak? No, replied lawyer Dvoretzky. Police can only enter if there's a genuine emergency going on at that very moment. Justice Breyer noted that while the court has allowed police to enter a home in exigent circumstances without a warrant, those situations are very limited and don't take into account dozens and dozens of real-life situations.

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STEPHEN BREYER: You know, baby's been crying for five hours. Nobody seems to be around.

TOTENBERG: Still, Dvoretzky contended that a warrantless entry could only occur in a true emergency. But his definition was so narrow, it didn't seem to satisfy many of the justices. Justice Kavanaugh noted that the statistics on falls at home and suicides are shocking.

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BRETT KAVANAUGH: Every single day on average, there are 65 suicides by gunshot in the United States. And police officers are critical, as in this instance, can help prevent that. And so why, under the facts here, isn't preventing suicide when a spouse says that I am fearful that my spouse will commit suicide - that's not good enough?

TOTENBERG: Defending the police and their community caretaking argument, lawyer Marc DeSisto struggled from the get-go. Chief Justice Roberts - let's suppose that a neighbor calls police about a cat stuck in a tree on the Johnsons' property, and the Johnsons are away. Can the police enter their locked yard fence to get the cat down? Is that community caretaking? Yes, replied DeSisto.

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MARC DESISTO: To me, climbing a tree and getting a cat doesn't impair the privacy rights.

TOTENBERG: Justice Kagan - it sounds like your definition of the community caretaking standard would cover a lot of stuff. Assistant U.S. Solicitor General Morgan Ratner sought to rescue the argument on behalf of the police.

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MORGAN RATNER: The key principle is if someone is at risk of serious harm and it's reasonable for officials to intervene now, that is enough. The officials don't need to show that the harm is mere moments away.

ROBERTS: Ms. Ratner, how do you feel about the cat?

TOTENBERG: Ratner said the government cares only about one thing - whether there's a potential for serious harm to people. She left the cat up in the tree.

Nina Totenberg, NPR News, Washington. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.