Should Buie be expanded to permit protective sweeps in all cases involving in-home arrests of suspected drug distributors?

QUESTION PRESENTED Almost thirty years ago, this Court established the parameters of a protective sweep incident to an in-home arrest in Maryland v. Buie, 494 U.S. 325 (1990). As part of its holding, the Court said that searches beyond the spaces immediately adjoining the place of arrest must be supported by “articulable facts which, taken together with the rational inferences from those facts, would warrant a reasonably prudent officer in believing that the area to be swept harbors an individual posing a danger to those on the arrest scene.” Jd. at 335. Ignoring Buie and breaking with precedent from the Second and Sixth Circuits, the Eighth Circuit has adopted an automatic protective sweep doctrine that permits a sweep of an arrested individual’s home if that person is linked to drug distribution. Historically, this Court has declined to permit categorical Fourth Amendment exceptions for particular offenses. See, Richards v. Wisconsin, 520 U.S. 385 (1997) and Florida v. J.L., 529 U.S. 266 (2000). This Court should accept certiorari to review the following question: Should Buie be expanded to permit protective sweeps in all cases involving in-home arrests of suspected drug distributors? i