NCJ Number
174501
Journal
FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin Volume: 67 Issue: 4 Dated: April 1998 Pages: 25-32
Date Published
1998
Length
8 pages
Annotation
This article explores the limits of Constitutional protection afforded the area immediately surrounding the home.
Abstract
The Fourth Amendment recognizes the right of people to be secure in their houses from unreasonable searches and seizures. The area immediately surrounding the home, the curtilage, has customarily been viewed as part of the home. The US Supreme Court has described the curtilage as þthe area to which extends the intimate activity associated with the þsanctity of a manþs home and the privacies of life.þþ The area outside the curtilage, which courts refer to as an open field, is not protected by the Fourth Amendment. Some states have granted protection from police trespass in areas outside the curtilage, but such limitations would not be relevant in federal prosecutions. Most courts have limited the application of curtilage principles to homes and do not recognize commercial curtilage. Owners of commercial property must take affirmative steps to keep the public out of an area in order to protect their constitutional privacy interest in that area. There is no expectation of privacy where an area of the curtilage is open to public view. However, simply because an area is open to observation does not mean that it is open to physical intrusion. Notes