Soldal v. Cook County, 506 U.S. 56, 17 (1992)

Page:   Index   Previous  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12  13  14  15  16  17

72

SOLDAL v. COOK COUNTY

Opinion of the Court

Moreover, we doubt that the police will often choose to further an enterprise knowing that it is contrary to the law, or proceed to seize property in the absence of objectively reasonable grounds for doing so. In short, our reaffirmance of Fourth Amendment principles today should not foment a wave of new litigation in the federal courts.

IV

The complaint here alleges that respondents, acting under color of state law, dispossessed the Soldals of their trailer home by physically tearing it from its foundation and towing it to another lot. Taking these allegations as true, this was no "garden-variety" landlord-tenant or commercial dispute. The facts alleged suffice to constitute a "seizure" within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment, for they plainly implicate the interests protected by that provision. The judgment of the Court of Appeals is, accordingly, reversed, and the case is remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

So ordered.

Page:   Index   Previous  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12  13  14  15  16  17

Last modified: October 4, 2007