Berry, et al. v. Leslie, et al.

Officers of the Orange County Sheriff's Office (OCSO) and representatives from the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) conducted an unannounced, warrantless inspection of a barbershop with the intent of discovering violations of state licensing laws. Plaintiffs, who were subject to the "administrative inspection," filed suit alleging that the officers violated their Fourth Amendment rights to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures. At issue was whether the district court's conclusion that two certain government officials were not entitled to qualified immunity. The court affirmed the judgment of the district court where it has long been clearly established that a warrantless administrative inspection must be narrowly tailored to the administrative need that justifies it. In this case, the manner in which the inspection was undertaken was unreasonable from its inception and was, in fact, a search. View "Berry, et al. v. Leslie, et al." on Justia Law