In 1999, the 9th Circuit ruled:
Any government agent can be held to know that their office does not give them an unrestricted right to enter peoples' homes at will.
[It is] settled constitutional law that...police could not enter a dwelling without a warrant even under statutory authority when probable cause existed. The principle that government officials cannot coerce entry into peoples' houses without a search warrant...is so well established that any reasonable officer would know it.
Appellants' claim that "a search warrant is not required for home investigatory visits by social workers" is simply not the law.
Nowhere is the proactive force of the 4th Amendment more powerful than it is when the sanctity of the home is involved...therefore, we have been adamant in our demand that absent exigent circumstances a warrant will be required before a person's home is invaded by the authorities." (Calabretta v. Floyd 189 F.3d 808 (9th Cir. 1999).----------------------------------
In my case, there was clearly no evidence of emergency or exigency since the alleged "7 RABID DOGS," which the trespassing Davie Florida Police Officers and DCF worker DEBRA SIMMONS played with, lived outdoors, and the child lived inside the home.
The forced removal of our child was compounded by the fact that Erin was in her first trimester, and suffered from severe morning sickness, while I was relegated to the couch, recovering from a heart-attack a week earlier.
FULL TEXT - CALABRETTA v. FLOYD
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