On April 19, 2024, the case of a Kentucky man who argued that the police violated the Fourth Amendment by searching his backpack during his arrest took center stage. The petition revolves around the alleged infringement on his right to privacy, raising questions concerning policing practices, and by extension, the justice system in the United States.
As a refresher, the Fourth Amendment protects people from unreasonable searches and seizures. In essence, barring law enforcement from searching individuals or their property without a warrant. However, exceptions exist under specific circumstances – one being searches made during an arrest. The Supreme Court has clarified that this exception extends to arrestees and their possessions if these items pose a risk – for instance, if the arrestee can access them to retrieve a weapon or destroy evidence.
In the case of a 2019 arrest in Lexington, Kentucky, held under the scrutiny of this long-standing rule, the said exception served as the crux of the appeal. Police on bicycle patrol in the park observed an exchange between two men, interpreting it as a drug sale. After apprehending the suspected buyer and confiscating a joint of synthetic marijuana, the officers approached the suspected seller, William Bembury.
Following Bembury’s arrest, the officers proceeded to search his backpack, which was on a table nearby. The search yielded a small bag of synthetic marijuana and a sum of seven dollars in cash. Bembury, with his hands cuffed behind his back and never having given consent to the search, argued that the search did not qualify under any exception to the Fourth Amendment.
This led Bembury to plead guilty to one count of possession of synthetic drugs but with a condition. He sought rights to appeal, striving to get the evidence from the search excluded. His argument stood on three grounds – he was not wearing the backpack when arrested, his hands were cuffed during the search, and he never voluntarily agreed to the search.
A Kentucky appeals court initially ruled in favor of Bembury deeming the search unconstitutional. The Kentucky Supreme Court, however, reversed this decision, upholding Bembury’s conviction. In their deliberation, they recognized that the question of whether personal items like backpacks or purses are categorically protected by the Fourth Amendment from searches during an arrest is yet to be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.
The court, nevertheless, arrived at a majority decision, ruling that any item within a person’s immediate possession at the moment of arrest falls under existing exceptions to the warrant requirement. Thus, in Bembury’s case, the searching of his backpack was justified.
Bembury v. Kentucky, as this case is formally known, is currently looking to the justices for a supreme review and ultimate reversal of the Kentucky Supreme Court’s ruling. Bembury suggests significant disparities among states and federal courts of appeals concerning the application of the Fourth Amendment in such scenarios. With his case serving as a fresco of such daily occurrences across the country, Bembury presents an urgent plea for the “justices to resolve this question for good.”
For additional information and perspective on similar petitions, refer to the original SCOTUSblog provided in the following link.