Welsh v. Wisconsin 466 U.S. 740 (1984)
WELSH v. WISCONSIN 466 U.S. 740 (1984)
In Welsh the Supreme Court considered and rejected an exception to its rule of payton v. new york (1984) that the fourth amendment prohibits a warrantless arrest in one's home in the absence of exigent circumstances. Police made a warrantless night entry of a private home to arrest a man for committing the nonjailable offense of driving while drunk. Justice william j. brennan for a 6–2 Court rejected the state's reliance on the hot pursuit doctrine because the police had not in fact engaged in a pursuit. In view of the state's classification of a first-offense drunk-driving offense as a minor crime meriting merely a fine, the Court also rejected the argument that the need to get a blood-alcohol test without delay provided an exigent circumstance.
Leonard W. Levy
(1986)