Courthouse Steps Oral Argument Teleforum: Lange v. California

In Lange v. California, defendant Arthur Lange challenges the application of the exigent circumstances exception to the warrant requirement of the Fourth Amendment in California state court arguing exigent circumstances should apply only in genuine emergencies – not where the police are in hot pursuit following a misdemeanor traffic violation. Lange argues the evidence supporting his DUI arrest and conviction should be thrown out because it surfaced only after the police followed Lange into his garage following his commission of misdemeanor traffic offenses. California upheld Lange’s conviction favoring a case by case approach to applying the exigent circumstances exception to pursuit following probable cause of a misdemeanor. Other states have adopted a blanket ban on misdemeanors providing the exigent circumstances necessary to justify a warrantless search.In granting certiorari, the Supreme Court will address the split among the states and consider whether pursuit following probable cause of a misdemeanor always qualifies as an exigent circumstance allowing warrantless entry. Oral argument is scheduled for February 24, 2021. Panelists Larry James, Managing Partner at Crabbe Browne & James LLP and General Counsel of the National Fraternal Order of Police, Clark Neily, Vice President for Criminal Justice at the Cato Institute, and Vikrant Reddy, Senior Research Fellow at the Charles Koch Institute, will join us to discuss.Featuring: Larry James, Managing Partner at Crabbe Browne & James LLP and General Counsel of the National Fraternal Order of PoliceClark Neily, Vice President for Criminal Justice at the Cato InstituteVikrant Reddy, Senior Research Fellow at the Charles Koch Institute Teleforum calls are open to all dues paying members of the Federalist Society. To become a member, sign up on our website. As a member, you should receive email announcements of upcoming Teleforum calls which contain the conference call phone number. If you are not receiving those email announcements, please contact us at 202-822-8138.