Justices side with Montana police on
warrant requirements during emergencies
By Lindsay Whitehurst
Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court sided with Montana police on Wednesday in a case over when officers can enter a home without a warrant if an emergency might be unfolding inside.
The unanimous high court found officers acted lawfully when they went into the home of William Case, who was shot and wounded after officers entered his home in 2021.
Police were responding to a call from Case's former girlfriend, who feared he might have killed himself. They entered his home after knocking on the door produced no response. An officer fired after Case threw open a closet curtain while holding an object that looked like a gun, according to court documents. A handgun was later found in a nearby laundry basket.
Case was charged with assaulting an officer but argued that the evidence against him should be tossed out because officers didn't have a warrant.
The Montana Supreme Court disagreed, finding that the officers needed only to reasonably suspect someone required emergency help. Case appealed to the justices and asked them to require a higher probable cause standard, similar to criminal investigations.
The justices rejected that argument. They found that the standard set by the state's highest court was too low but that the Montana officers' actions were nevertheless "objectively reasonable" under a standard set in a previous Supreme Court case.
The opinion written by Justice Elena Kagan noted that entering during an emergency doesn't allow police to search beyond what's needed to help and keep officers safe.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court sided with Montana police on Wednesday in a case over when officers can enter a home without a warrant if an emergency might be unfolding inside.
The unanimous high court found officers acted lawfully when they went into the home of William Case, who was shot and wounded after officers entered his home in 2021.
Police were responding to a call from Case's former girlfriend, who feared he might have killed himself. They entered his home after knocking on the door produced no response. An officer fired after Case threw open a closet curtain while holding an object that looked like a gun, according to court documents. A handgun was later found in a nearby laundry basket.
Case was charged with assaulting an officer but argued that the evidence against him should be tossed out because officers didn't have a warrant.
The Montana Supreme Court disagreed, finding that the officers needed only to reasonably suspect someone required emergency help. Case appealed to the justices and asked them to require a higher probable cause standard, similar to criminal investigations.
The justices rejected that argument. They found that the standard set by the state's highest court was too low but that the Montana officers' actions were nevertheless "objectively reasonable" under a standard set in a previous Supreme Court case.
The opinion written by Justice Elena Kagan noted that entering during an emergency doesn't allow police to search beyond what's needed to help and keep officers safe.
Court revives congressman's challenge
to late-arriving mail ballot law
By Lindsay Whitehurst
Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Wednesday revived a Republican challenge to a law that allows the counting of late-arriving mail ballots, a target of President Donald Trump.
The high court ruled 7-2 that candidates like Rep. Mike Bost, R-Ill. have the legal right to such challenges, even if the ballots have little effect on the race.
"Win or lose, candidates suffer when the process departs from the law," Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the opinion.
The justices reversed lower court rulings tossing out the case, but didn't decide the underlying claims. The Supreme Court will hear another case on the the broader issue of late-arriving mail
ballots this spring.
Two justices, Amy Coney Barrett and Elena Kagan, agreed with the outcome but would have decided the case more narrowly. Two others, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson and Justice Sonia Sotomayor, dissented.
Bost appealed after lower courts tossed out the suit, ruling that Bost lacked legal standing because any ballots that arrived after election day had little impact on his lopsided win.
The state had argued that allowing the lawsuit would open the floodgates for more election litigation and "cause chaos" for election officials. Bost said vote-total considerations shouldn't affect his ability to come to court.
The Illinois law allows ballots postmarked by Election Day to be counted if they are received up to two weeks later. More than a dozen states, as well as the District of Columbia, accept mailed ballots received after Election Day as long they are postmarked on or before that date, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
The Trump administration weighed in to support Bost. The Republican president has asserted that late-arriving ballots and drawn-out electoral counts undermine confidence in elections.
Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Wednesday revived a Republican challenge to a law that allows the counting of late-arriving mail ballots, a target of President Donald Trump.
The high court ruled 7-2 that candidates like Rep. Mike Bost, R-Ill. have the legal right to such challenges, even if the ballots have little effect on the race.
"Win or lose, candidates suffer when the process departs from the law," Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the opinion.
The justices reversed lower court rulings tossing out the case, but didn't decide the underlying claims. The Supreme Court will hear another case on the the broader issue of late-arriving mail
ballots this spring.
Two justices, Amy Coney Barrett and Elena Kagan, agreed with the outcome but would have decided the case more narrowly. Two others, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson and Justice Sonia Sotomayor, dissented.
Bost appealed after lower courts tossed out the suit, ruling that Bost lacked legal standing because any ballots that arrived after election day had little impact on his lopsided win.
The state had argued that allowing the lawsuit would open the floodgates for more election litigation and "cause chaos" for election officials. Bost said vote-total considerations shouldn't affect his ability to come to court.
The Illinois law allows ballots postmarked by Election Day to be counted if they are received up to two weeks later. More than a dozen states, as well as the District of Columbia, accept mailed ballots received after Election Day as long they are postmarked on or before that date, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
The Trump administration weighed in to support Bost. The Republican president has asserted that late-arriving ballots and drawn-out electoral counts undermine confidence in elections.
