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LIRA@BC Law

Abstract

In Patel v. City of Los Angeles, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit struck down Los Angeles Municipal Code section 41.49, which authorized warrantless, on-site search and seizure of hotel and motel guest registries. In doing so, the majority recognized that in the absence of a warrant, an administrative record inspection scheme must provide the opportunity for pre-compliance judicial review of the search’s reasonableness. By recognizing section 41.49’s lack of pre-compliance review, the majority took a step to curb police officers’ arbitrary, unmonitored application of the statute. In turn, this will provide a disincentive for targeting guests without probable cause, as officers no longer have direct, uncontested access to hotel registries. In granting certiorari and hearing the case, the Supreme Court should recognize the extent to which this revision serves to prevent arbitrary police searches.

Files

File nameDate UploadedVisibilityFile size
01_bergin_A1b.pdf
6 Sep 2022
Public
364 kB

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Metadata

  • Subject
    • Fourth Amendment

    • Law Enforcement and Corrections

    • State and Local Government Law

  • Journal title
    • Boston College Journal of Law & Social Justice

  • Volume
    • 35

  • Issue
    • 3

  • Pagination
    • E. Supp. 1

  • Date submitted

    6 September 2022