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1 1 (February 12, 2026)

handle is hein.crs/govetpz0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Supreme Court Upholds Warrantless Entry in Emergency Aid Case February 12, 2026 On January 14, 2026, the Supreme Court in Case v. Montana resolved when, under the Fourth Amendment, law enforcement may enter a home without a warrant to render aid in response to a public safety emergency inside. Prior to the decision, federal appeals courts and state courts of last resort had disagreed about the quantum of proof law enforcement needed to support such a warrantless entry; some courts demanded that law enforcement possess probable cause to justify the entry, while others set a standard below probable cause. In Case, the Supreme Court unanimously held that law enforcement need not possess probable cause, reasoning that probable cause is a concept applicable to law enforcement's criminal or investigative functions, not law enforcement's public safety responsibilities. This Sidebar addresses the Supreme Court's ruling in Case. It first provides an overview ofthe Fourth Amendment, the emergency-aid exception to the warrant requirement, and the judicial split regarding the legal test applicable to this exception. It then summarizes the Supreme Court's majority opinion as well as the two concurrences. The Sidebar closes with considerations for Congress. Overview of the Fourth Amendment The Fourth Amendment reads, in part, The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause. The Supreme Court has made clear that the Fourth Amendment guards against only certain governmental intrusions and that there is no unbounded right of privacy or right to be let alone. Rather, the Fourth Amendment is implicated only if a search or seizure occurs. A cognizable Fourth Amendment search generally involves government (1) intrusion upon a person's reasonable expectation of privacy, or (2) trespass upon a constitutionally protected space. The Fourth Amendment typically requires that searches be conducted only pursuant to a warrant predicated on probable cause, or a fair probability that the search will reveal evidence of criminal activity. This quantum of proof is lower than a preponderance of the evidence (the more-likely-than-not standard). For instance, the Supreme Court determined that a police officer who found cocaine in a vehicle had probable cause to arrest all three occupants, because, absent evidence pointing to a particular individual, there was a fair probability that the cocaine belonged to one of them. Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov LSB11394 CRS Legal Sidebar Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress