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In United States v. Ramos, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals recently considered challenges concerning the scope of the community-caretaking exception as it applies to warrantless inventory searches of vehicles. Isaac Ramos faced arrest following an altercation at a convenience store. His truck, which was parked in the store’s lot, was impounded, and a subsequent inventory search of the vehicle uncovered a machine gun […]

The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit recently decided United States v. Maxwell, a case that challenges the scope of the Exigent Circumstances doctrine during a 90 second, warrantless search at an Illinois apartment complex. After gunshots led to an urgent 911 call from the apartment complex, police, relying on the Emergency Aid Doctrine, made immediate entry into Tyrone Maxwell’s apartment; Unit

The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals presented a decision in Franklin v. City of Charlotte, a case that emphasizes the tensions between police response and perceived threats, while considering the potential pitfalls of ambiguous or conflicting officer commands.1 Stemming from an incident at a local fast-food restaurant, what might have been an everyday incident rapidly escalated into an irreversible tragedy. The plaintiff, acting on