Is ones 4th amendment right violated if police search ones hotel room without a warrant?

Question

Does the fact one is there for commercial reasons cut toward or away from giving one standing?

Answer 1

If you are staying in a hotel overnight (the room is rented to you), you have a reasonable expectation of privacy in that room, regardless of whether you are staying there for business or personal reasons. The hotel manager or staff cannot just willy nilly let the police into the room, in ANY state. However, that does not mean the police necessarily need a warrant to search the room. The same rules apply as they would to the search of a home. They can get consent to search from you, or there could be other exceptions to the warrant requirement (e.g., exigent circumstances). If it is your room, you have standing to challenge the search.

Answer 2

I think that police may not search one's room without consent of the person who is occupying the room, even if they get consent from the hotel. I haven't found any recent cases on point on the issue, though. I don't believe that whether a person is in the hotel for commercial reasons or not affects the analysis of whether there is a 4th amendment right violation. Other facts need to be known to completely answer the question. There are older cases stating that a hotel room cannot be searched without consent of the people staying there,(Jones v. United States, 362 U.S. 257 (1960), had established rule that anyone legitimately on the premises could object; the rationale was discarded but the result in Jones was maintained because he was there with permission, he had his own key, his luggage was there, he had the right to exclude and therefore a legitimate expectation of privacy. Similarly maintained were the results in United States v. Jeffers, 342 U.S. 48 (1951) (hotel room rented by defendant's aunts to which he had a key and permission to store things)); and people staying as guests in a home have a right to object to the search of the home.(U.S. Supreme Ct., Minnesota v. Carter, 1998)

Answer 3

Yes, your rights would be violated if the police searched your room without a warrant depending on the situarion. Assuming it wasn't a situation where evidence would be lost while trying to obtain a warrant or there wasn't probable cause that a crime is or was about to be commited.

The 4th amendment protects against unreasonable searches and seizures where there is a reasonable expectation of privacy. One has a certain expectation of privacy in a hotel room.

Although the room isn't yours, if you live in an apartment, you pay rent to the landlord, which is a similar situation, and the police would need a warrant to search your apartment. so the same rules would apply.

Answer 4

Courts have ruled that the Police may search hotel rooms when the occupants have either checked out or given up their interest in the room and the hotel manager/owner consents to the search (which they usually do). If the occupants are still staying in the room then a search warrant will need to be obtained or you can get consent from the occupant because they have a reasonable expectation of privacy in the room. You can not search a hotel room based solely on probable cause, you will need to use that PC to obtain a warrant. You may seize the room based on exigent circumstances and probable cause but it is highly suggested that after you seize the room you either get consent to search the room or a search warrant. This goes for the entire US.

Answer 5

It is a grey area, with no clear precednet, some decisions say one thing, and others another.

The general rule, in most states, is that the hotel owners, or their designated agents (hotel staff) have the right to let the police in without a warrant, but they are not required to do so and may demand a warrant if they wish.

Answer 6

A hotel room is the hotel management's property, not the guest's. If the management gave the police permission to search the premises, there is no 4th Amendment issue.