The Castle Under Siege

Photo Credit: Alexander HunterThe First, Second and Fourth Amendments to the Constitution aren’t much admired by liberals, or “progressives,” or whatever they’re calling themselves this month. Free speech is restrained by speech codes, President Obama’s disdain for the right to bear arms is well known, and the government’s electronic snooping has shredded the guarantees against self-incrimination.

Now even the Third Amendment, which guarantees that “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,” is endangered, too. The courts have rarely considered this iron prohibition on quartering of troops, but now they must.

Two years ago, Christopher Worley, a police officer in Henderson, Nev., called on Anthony Mitchell to ask whether police could use the Mitchell home to keep watch on a neighbor. Mr. Mitchell declined. Soon he heard pounding on the front door. Henderson police officers arrived with orders from their superiors: “If Mitchell refused to answer the door, force entry would be made, and Mitchell would be arrested.” The door was battered down, and Mr. Mitchell was arrested at gunpoint for “obstructing an officer.” The frightened family dog was shot.

The Mitchell family sued, asking the U.S. District Court for Nevada to hold the cities of Henderson and North Las Vegas in violation of their constitutional rights when police seized their home and used it for a sting operation against a neighbor.

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