622
Opinion of Stevens, J.
ory wholly inapplicable to forcible entries in connection with the execution of a warrant.3
In addition to this case, the Court points to three lower court opinions—none of which addresses the Fourth Amend-ment—as the ostensible basis for a reasonable officer's belief that the rule in Semayne's Case 4 was ripe for reevaluation.5 See ante, at 616. Two of the cases were decided in 1980 and the third in 1984. In view of the clear restatement of the rule in the later opinions of this Court, cited ante, at 611, those three earlier decisions could not possibly provide a
ant to the doctrine of common custom, usage, and practice and since it had been shown that it was common usage, custom and practice for news media to enter private premises and homes under the circumstances present here.
. . . . . " 'The fire was a disaster of great public interest . . . . [I]t has been a longstanding custom and practice throughout the country for representatives of the news media to enter upon private property where disaster of great public interest has occurred.' " 340 So. 2d, at 917-918.
The Court's reference to this case, ante, at 616, n. 3, misleadingly suggests that the "widespread practice" referred to in the Florida court's opinion was police practice; it was not.
3 Indeed, the Wisconsin state-court decision, cited by the Court as contrary authority, took pains to distinguish this case: "We will not imply a consent as a matter of law. It is of course well known that news representatives want to enter a private building after or even during a newsworthy event within the building. That knowledge is no basis for an implied consent by the possessor of the building to the entry. . . . We conclude that custom and usage have not been shown in fact or law to confer an implied consent upon news representatives to enter a building under the circumstances presented by this case." Prahl v. Brosamle, 98 Wis. 2d 130, 149-150, 295 N. W. 2d 768, 780 (App. 1980).
4 5 Co. Rep. 91a, 77 Eng. Rep. 194 (K. B. 1604).
5 As the Court notes, the only Federal Court of Appeals authority on the subject, Bills v. Aseltine, 958 F. 2d 697 (CA6 1992), "anticipate[d] today's holding that police may not bring along third parties during an entry into a private home pursuant to a warrant for purposes unrelated to those justifying the warrant." Ante, at 616-617.
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