Does Your Fourth Amendment Right End When You Get a Hotel Room?
The staff at Motel 6, where the North Carolina couple was staying with their six dogs, had gotten complaints about noise, entered their room while they were out, found the dogs without food or water, considered them thin and thus concluded they were neglected.
“I said we would come and get our dogs and leave,” Pleins said. “As soon as I said that, they transferred me to a police officer who had already been in my room.”
The Pleins rushed to the motel, fearing their dogs would get taken away, but at one point, once they had time to think, Pleins said they wondered if the police even had the right to enter their room without a warrant. The situation also led to the authorities finding and confiscating their firearm.
The staff at Motel 6, where the North Carolina couple was staying with their six dogs, had gotten complaints about noise, entered their room while they were out, found the dogs without food or water, considered them thin and thus concluded they were neglected.
“I said we would come and get our dogs and leave,” Pleins said. “As soon as I said that, they transferred me to a police officer who had already been in my room.”
The Pleins rushed to the motel, fearing their dogs would get taken away, but at one point, once they had time to think, Pleins said they wondered if the police even had the right to enter their room without a warrant. The situation also led to the authorities finding and confiscating their firearm.