Hanlon v. Berger

Background

Paul and Erma Berger are homeowners who live on a 75,000-acre ranch near Jordan, Montana. In 1993 federal agents executed a warrant to search the ranch’s outbuildings; the warrant excluded the residence. A CNN crew accompanied and recorded the agents during the search. The Bergers sued the agents and an assistant United States attorney for money damages, saying their Fourth Amendment privacy rights were violated when media observed the search.

Reasoning

The Court considered whether allowing television reporters to accompany officers during the execution of the warrant violated the homeowners’ constitutional privacy protections and whether the officers had legal protection from damages. The Court noted its decision in Wilson v. Layne, which recognizes that bringing media into a home during a search can violate the Fourth Amendment. But the Court concluded that, at the time of the 1992-1993 events, the rule was not clearly established. Because the law was not clear then, the agents were entitled to qualified immunity. The Court vacated the Ninth Circuit’s judgment and sent the case back for further proceedings consistent with that conclusion.

Real world impact

The decision limits the ability of homeowners to recover money from officers for media-accompanied searches that occurred when the law was unsettled. It affects homeowners, federal agents, and news organizations by leaving open whether future searches will lead to damages claims if the rule later becomes clearly established. This ruling is not a final determination on liability and could change in future cases.

Dissents or concurrances

Justice Stevens agreed that the search raised Fourth Amendment concerns but disagreed on immunity, believing the constitutional rule was clearly established earlier and dissenting from the immunity result.