WASHINGTON, D.C. — Edward Caniglia and his wife had a nasty fight on Aug. 20, 2015, so bitter that his wife decided to spend the night at a hotel.
When Caniglia didn’t answer the phone the next day, his wife, Kim, called the Cranston police, worrying that he might be suicidal. He had retrieved an unloaded gun during their argument the day before and said, “Why don’t you just shoot me and get me out of my misery.”
Officers questioned Caniglia and sent him to Kent Hospital for an evaluation, a step Caniglia said he agreed to only after police assured him they wouldn’t take his guns. Officers nonetheless seized his two guns and ammunition. Caniglia was released from the hospital the same day.
Caniglia, backed by the Rhode Island affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union, sued the police after they refused to return his guns without a court order. The guns were returned 3½ months later, only after he filed suit.
“I immediately felt like it was a miscarriage of justice. … If they can come and do this with these firearms, when can they take away my car because I ran a stop sign? It seemed arbitrary,” Caniglia, 70, said.
On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously that Cranston had violated Caniglia’s Fourth Amendment rights by entering his home and seizing the guns and having him taken to the hospital without a warrant.
“I feel terrific. I was right,” Caniglia said.
“None of this has been anti-police but anti- their reactions that day. It was a little bit out of hand,” Caniglia said. He isn’t seeking damages, he says, but only to be compensated for his legal expenses.
Thomas W. Lyons III and Rhiannon Selina Huffman represented him in U.S. District Court and the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Shay Dvoretzky argued the case before the U.S. Supreme Court.
“They worked so hard for me,” Caniglia said, in an interview conducted in Lyons’ office. “They’re my heroes.”
More: Cranston police seized a man’s guns in 2015. What the U.S. Supreme Court heard about it in 2021:
The case — which touched on the sanctity of one’s home, gun rights and police officers’ duty to make snap decisions in myriad situations — stemmed from an argument between the Caniglias that snowballed to the point that he retrieved an unloaded gun, Caniglia concedes.
Officers at the scene questioned Caniglia. He says he told them he would never commit suicide and stepped away during the conversation to take his high-blood pressure medication. Still, the officers had him taken to the hospital, where doctors sent him home with his wife after a few hours.
“They really didn’t know why I was there,” he said of the staff. The couple remain married, though he reports not talking to his wife for a few weeks after the incident.
“Why they had come into my house and taken everything didn’t make any sense,” said Caniglia, who doesn’t consider himself a gun-rights advocate or a backer of the NRA.
U.S. District Court Chief Judge John J. McConnell Jr. in 2019 ruled in favor of the Cranston police, concluding that officers were acting in keeping with their duty to protect the public under the so-called community caretaking exception when they sent Caniglia to get evaluated and seized his guns without a warrant. The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld that decision a year later.
“Police officers must sometimes make on-the-spot judgments in harrowing and swiftly evolving circumstances. Such considerations argue persuasively in favor of affording the police some reasonable leeway in the performance of their community caretaking responsibilities,” Senior Circuit Judge Bruce Selya wrote for the appeals court.
Caniglia sought a Supreme Court review, challenging the ruling as an unconstitutional expansion of the community-caretaking exception.
The Supreme Court heard virtual arguments in March that contemplated just when police may enter a home without a warrant.
The Supreme Court in 1973 held that police officers did not violate the Fourth Amendment when they searched the trunk of a car without a warrant. Courts nationwide have since been split on whether those protections should be extended into homes, with some expanding the community caretaking exception into homes.
In a ruling written by Justice Clarence Thomas, the high court found that searches of homes and vehicles were constitutionally distinguishable.
“The very core of the Fourth Amendment’s guarantee is the right of a person to retreat into his or her home and ‘there be free from unreasonable governmental intrusion,’” the court wrote. “A recognition of the existence of ‘community caretaking’ tasks, like rendering aid to motorists in disabled vehicles, is not an open-ended license to perform them anywhere.”
In a concurring ruling, Justice Brett Kavanaugh cautioned that courts, police officers and police departments must take care in situations in which a person could be at risk to be sure a warrantless entry is “reasonable under the circumstances.”
Cases involving armed, suicidal people; an elderly person who fails to attend church and can’t reached; and young, unattended children “illustrate the kinds of warrantless entries that are perfectly constitutional under the exigent circumstances doctrine, in my view,” Kavanaugh wrote.
“The takeaway is that the home is entitled to greater constitutional protections than an automobile unless there are existing exceptions, such as an emergency circumstance or consent,” Lyons said. Otherwise officers need to secure a warrant.
Dvoretzky, partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, put it in this context.
“The First Circuit’s now-discarded standard would have allowed officers to demand entry into people’s homes based on subjective and undefined ‘community-caretaking’ needs. In rejecting that standard, the Supreme Court reaffirmed bedrock Fourth Amendment principles, and held that police do not have ‘an open-ended license to perform’ community caretaking tasks in the home. The Court’s holding is a significant victory for Americans concerned about the sanctity of their homes,” he said in a statement.
The Rhode Island affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union hailed the ruling as an important victory for privacy rights.
“The Fourth Amendment has always served as an important barrier to police intrusion into the home, and we are very pleased that the Court reaffirmed this fundamental principle,” ACLU of Rhode Island Executive Director Steven Brown said in a statement.
The ruling returns the case to the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which could in turn send it back to the U.S. District Court to address any issues the Supreme Court opinion did not resolve.
Marc DeSisto, who represented Cranston, could not be reached for comment Monday. The communications coordinator for the city also didn’t return a phone call late Monday.
Rhode Island enacted a red-flag law in 2018, after Caniglia brought his case. That law allows for police to remove firearms, by court order, from people who pose a significant danger to themselves or others.
668735 272918Thank you for some other wonderful article. 277275
459415 995344hello I was extremely impressed with the setup you used with this blog. I use blogs my self so congrats. definatly adding to favorites. 570896
904206 361277Satisfying posting. It would appear that lots of the stages are depending upon the originality aspect. Its a funny thing about life in the event you refuse to accept anything but the best, you very often get it. by W. Somerset Maugham.. 288747
412386 852143We clean up on completion. This may possibly sound obvious but not several a plumber in Sydney does. We wear uniforms and always treat your home or office with respect. 838368
280698 634121quite great goodthis post deserves almost nothing hahaha merely joking: S nice write-up: P 231059
927645 352172Hello! Fantastic post! Please when I could see a follow up! 592192
919129 772955I saw two other comparable posts although yours was the most beneficial so a great deal 73187
404419 205437Could it be okay to write several of this on my small internet site only incorporate a 1 way link to the web site? 98106
57453 460404You completed certain good points there. I did looking on the subject matter and located most persons will go together with your blog 999750
96349 798477Hey there. I want to to inquire somethingis this a wordpress weblog as we are thinking about shifting more than to WP. Also did you make this theme on your personal? Thanks. 519043
640664 332375Id need to speak to you here. Which is not some thing Which i do! I like reading an post that can make individuals believe. Also, thank you for permitting me to comment! 910417
156755 309112great post. Neer knew this, thanks for letting me know. 521154
540531 485878Wanted posting. Loads of excellent writing here. I wish I saw it identified the website sooner. Congrats! 121783
44478 95131There exist a couple of many different distinct levels among the California Weight loss program and each and every a person is pretty important. Youre procedure stands out as the the actual giving up with all of the power. weight loss 565391
97027 578834Perfectly indited content material , thanks for selective information . 318689
816598 105805so much great details on here, : D. 224211
753947 173926i was just surfing along and came upon your blog. just wanted to say excellent job and this post truly helped me. 19878
861390 594901Some genuinely nice and utilitarian information on this internet site, as nicely I believe the style has got fantastic capabilities. 328004
929075 223244Heya just wanted to give you a brief heads up and let you know a few with the pictures arent loading properly. Im not certain why but I think its a linking concern. Ive tried it in two different web browsers and both show exactly the same outcomes. 270019
768656 52547I gotta bookmark this web site it seems quite useful really helpful 686050
679969 897863excellent day, your site is genuinely unquie. Anways, i do appreciate your work 461578
743942 841279Awesome inkling Grace! ego was luxurious youd bring about this about your biz bump into upstanding lineage. We reason you! 34241
967226 587833A very good clear cut answer and a great concept. But how do I post any work on this web site is one more question. The Foureyed Poet. 849522
443770 529739I needs to spend some time studying much more or understanding more. Thank you for wonderful info I was looking for this information for my mission. 469999
640118 33583You produced some 1st rate factors there. I seemed on the internet for the difficulty and located most people will go along with together along with your web site. 482596