U.S. Supreme Court
Supreme Court Turns Down Welfare Search Case
The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to accept a case challenging a requirement that welfare recipients allow searches of their homes.
The program, adopted in 1997 by the district attorney’s office in San Diego County, required unannounced home visits by the district attorney’s fraud investigators, SCOTUSblog reports. Those who refuse the searches may not receive welfare benefits.
The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had upheld the program in a 2-1 decision. The court said the visits are not a search for purposes of the Fourth Amendment because the welfare recipients can refuse to allow them, the Associated Press reports. The 9th Circuit refused to rehear the case in April.
The case is Sanchez v. San Diego.
