Vermont Court: Police May Enter Emergency Rooms Without Warrants
Law enforcement officers may enter a hospital emergency room without a warrant when they suspect a patient was a drunken driver, the Vermont Supreme Court ruled on Friday. Justice Marilyn Skoglund, writing for a unanimous court, said that patients cannot expect full privacy in the emergency ward of a hospital. Such wards, she said, are open to emergency workers, medical staff and other hospital workers not involved in direct patient care, families and other patients, extinguishing any claim to privacy.
Court says police may enter emergency room without warrant, Associated Press, August 26, 2005.
