4th Amendment Violation – Unlawful Seizure

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: Sally Gaetjens v. City of Loves Park, et al.,

Case No.: 20-1295

Officials: KANNE, SCUDDER, and KIRSCH, Circuit Judges.

Focus: 4^th Amendment Violation – Unlawful Seizure

Plaintiff Sally Gaetjens sued various local government officials for entering and condemning her home and confiscating her thirty‐seven cats, all without a warrant. She’s right that the Fourth Amendment would usually prohibit such conduct. But emergencies breed exceptions—and this case is littered with emergencies.

Namely, Gaetjens went missing in action, and Defendants had reason to believe that she was experiencing a medical emergency. Plus, when Defendants attempted to check her home, they deemed it so noxious that it posed a public‐safety risk. Given these exigencies, the Fourth Amendment did not require Defendants to wait for judicial approval before acting. We thus affirm the decision of the district court granting summary judgment to Defendants.

Affirmed

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Derek A Hawkins is Corporate Counsel, at Salesforce.