美国国家公共电台 NPR In Win For Privacy Rights, Court Says Police Need Warrant To Search Area Around Home

 

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

A ruling by the United States Supreme¹ Court affects just how much police can do when they grow curious about your home. The court ruled that police may not search the area around a private home without a warrant even when they have good reason to think there's stolen property on the premises². Here's NPR legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg.

NINA TOTENBERG, BYLINE³: By an 8 to 1 vote, the court said that police can't just walk up a private driveway or onto a car patio⁴ or a garden to see if there's proof of a crime there. Such an invasion of private property, the court said, cannot be justified⁵ under the exception the court has carved out to allow police to stop vehicles for traffic violations⁶ and, where justified, to search the car without a warrant. The case began when a man on an orange-and-black motorcycle twice evaded⁷ police in Virginia. After some investigation⁸, police were able to figure out who the likely motorcycle rider was and where he lived, at least most of the time, at his girlfriend's house. Officer David Rhodes drove to the address and saw what appeared to be a similar motorcycle under a tarp. He walked up the driveway, pulled off the tarp, took down the license⁹ plate number and ran a search on it which revealed the motorcycle was stolen.

Collins, who later admitted he bought the bike without title, was arrested and convicted of receiving stolen property. At each stage of the case, Collins' lawyer challenged the warrantless search contending that the evidence was illegally obtained and thus could not be used against his client. At each stage, Collins lost. Now, normally when police search a home or the private property around it, which is known as the curtilage, they have to get a warrant. But the Virginia Supreme Court ruled that the warrantless search of the bike was justified under the so-called automobile¹⁰ exception to the warrant requirement. The U.S. Supreme Court disagreed. Writing for the court majority, Justice Sonia Sotomayor said that the heart of the Constitution's protection of curtilage is the right to retreat into one's own home and there be free from unreasonable¹¹ government intrusion. Just like the front porch, the side garden or the area outside the front window, she said, the driveway enclosure where Officer Rhodes searched the motorcycle requires a search warrant. Boston University constitutional and criminal law professor Tracey Maclin.

TRACEY MACLIN: I think the justices were worried about how Virginia's rule would affect people not just in the inner city - 'cause there's not a lot of curtilage around apartment buildings - but in the suburbs, frankly¹².

TOTENBERG: The lone¹³ dissenter¹⁴ from yesterday's ruling was Justice Samuel Alito. Justice Clarence Thomas filed a concurring¹⁵ opinion saying that while he agreed with the court's reading of the constitutional question, he doubted the Supreme Court's authority to impose that constitutional rule on the states. Nina Totenberg, NPR News, Washington.

1 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

2 premises   

n.建筑物，房屋

参考例句：

• According to the rules,no alcohol can be consumed on the premises.按照规定，场内不准饮酒。
• All repairs are done on the premises and not put out.全部修缮都在家里进行，不用送到外面去做。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 patio   

n.庭院，平台

参考例句：

• Suddenly, the thought of my beautiful patio came to mind. I can be quiet out there,I thought.我又忽然想到家里漂亮的院子，我能够在这里宁静地呆会。
• They had a barbecue on their patio on Sunday.星期天他们在院子里进行烧烤。

5 justified   

a.正当的，有理的

参考例句：

• She felt fully justified in asking for her money back. 她认为有充分的理由要求退款。
• The prisoner has certainly justified his claims by his actions. 那个囚犯确实已用自己的行动表明他的要求是正当的。

6 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。

7 evaded   

逃避( evade的过去式和过去分词 )； 避开； 回避； 想不出

参考例句：

• For two weeks they evaded the press. 他们有两周一直避而不见记者。
• The lion evaded the hunter. 那狮子躲开了猎人。

8 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

9 license   

n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许

参考例句：

• The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
• The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。

10 automobile   

n.汽车，机动车

参考例句：

• He is repairing the brake lever of an automobile.他正在修理汽车的刹车杆。
• The automobile slowed down to go around the curves in the road.汽车在路上转弯时放慢了速度。

11 unreasonable   

adj.不讲道理的，不合情理的，过度的

参考例句：

• I know that they made the most unreasonable demands on you.我知道他们对你提出了最不合理的要求。
• They spend an unreasonable amount of money on clothes.他们花在衣服上的钱太多了。

12 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

13 lone   

adj.孤寂的，单独的；唯一的

参考例句：

• A lone sea gull flew across the sky.一只孤独的海鸥在空中飞过。
• She could see a lone figure on the deserted beach.她在空旷的海滩上能看到一个孤独的身影。

14 dissenter   

n.反对者

参考例句：

• The role of the dissenter is not for the weak-kneed.反对者的角色不是软弱之人所能够担当的。
• The Party does not tolerate dissenters in its ranks.该政党不允许其成员中存在异见分子。

15 concurring   

同时发生的，并发的

参考例句：

• Concurring with expectations, the degree of polymorphism was highest in the central. 正如所料，多型性程度在中部种群中最高。
• The more an affect arises from a number of causes concurring together, the greater it is. 同时凑合起来以激起一个情感的原因愈多，则这个情感将必愈大。