WI: Tax assessor’s effort to see interior of home for assessment implicates the 4A

The tax assessor’s demand to see the interior of plaintiffs’ house is a search governed by the Fourth Amendment. Because it is the home, it is not “minimal,” and there is no administrative search exception that permits it. The city can assess the property without it. The Court even cites Entick v. Carrington, 95 Eng. Rep. 807 (C.P. 1765). Macdonald v. Town of Dover, 2017 WI 79, 2017 Wisc. LEXIS 396 (July 7, 2017).

The part of defendant’s motion to suppress for a Franks violation doesn’t need to be decided because not considering what was challenged still leaves probable cause. (The motion to suppress his statement was granted in the R&R but reversed by the USDJ. United States v. Ruhl, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 99600 (D. Minn. April 24, 2017),* adopted in part, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 97629 (D. Minn. June 23, 2017).*

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