Treating a Vessel Like a Home for Purposes of Conducting a Search

Authors

Barry Vrevich

Library of Congress Authority File

http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n79122466

Document Type

Comments

Abstract

This Comment examines recent decisions by the United States Supreme Court which indicate the Court is prepared to authorize the full warrantless search of a vessel subsequent to a lawful, random boarding, even in the absence of an articulable suspicion of wrongdoing. The author argues that the creation of a new "maritime safety and document inspection" exception to the fourth amendment's warrant requirement and probable cause standard would be an unprecedented and unjustified infringement on the constitutional rights of individual mariners. The author argues that, because a mariner's home is often his vessel, a warrant should be required to search a vessel's living areas when it reasonably appears the vessel is being used as a home.

Recommended Citation

Barry Vrevich, Treating a Vessel Like a Home for Purposes of Conducting a Search, 21 San Diego L. Rev. 751 (1984).
Available at: https://digital.sandiego.edu/sdlr/vol21/iss3/10