Third Amendment Claim

The Third Amendment to the Constitution is probably the least cited as a basis for a claim against the government.  But for Justice Douglas's inclusion of it among the "penumbras" and "emanations" of the Bill of Rights supporting a right of privacy, I am not sure when it would have otherwise appeared in modern jurisprudence.

Here is the text of the Third Amendment:

No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

But a complaint filed in federal court in Nevada claims a Third Amendment violation.  The plaintiff claims that the Henderson, Nevada police phoned him to say that they needed his house in order to keep surveillance on a neighbor in a domestic dispute matter.  The plaintiff declined.  So, according to the complaint, the police knocked down his door, ordered him to the ground, shot him and his dog with pepper spray and then arrested him for interfering with an officer.

According to Plaintiff's counsel, “And after entering the houses, they drank water, ate food,enjoyed the air conditioning,” he said. “That struck me as quartering.”

One can't help but think that some crucial facts are either missing or not fully reported.  We will have to see what further facts emerge and how the court deals with the notion of police as "soldiers."

Not a lot of news services are reporting on this case. Here is Fox News: