Case v. Montana

607 U. S. 107 (2026) · 1/14/26

Under the standard set in Brigham City v. Stuart, 547 U. S. 398, 400, the Fourth Amendment allows police officers to enter a home without a warrant if they have an “objectively reasonable basis for believing” that someone inside needs emergency assistance; that standard was met here.

In Brigham City v. Stuart, 547 U. S. 398, 400, the Court held that the Fourth Amendment allows police officers to enter a home without a warrant if they have an “objectively reasonable basis for believing” that someone inside needs emergency assistance. In this case, Montana police officers responded to the home of petitioner William Case after his ex-girlfriend called 9–1–1 to report that he was threatening suicide and may have shot himself. The officers knocked on the doors and yelled into an open window, but got no response. They could see an empty handgun holster and something that looked…

Held: Brigham City's objective reasonableness standard for warrantless home entries to render emergency aid applies without further gloss and was satisfied in this case. Pp. 113–119. (a) “[S]earches and seizures inside a home without a warrant are presumptively unreasonable” under the Fourth Amendment. Brigham City, 547 U. S., at 403. But the “warrant requirement is subject to certain exceptions,” Lange v. California, 594 U. S. 295, 301, including the need to render emergency assistance. The Court first approved a warrantless home entry to render emergency assistance in Brigham City, holding…