In Los Angeles v. Rettele, the United States Supreme Court (without bothering to hold oral argument) reversed a 9th Circuit decision that would have permitted a Caucasian couple to sue for a civil rights violation when police, executing a search warrant forced them to get out of bed, naked, and stand before the assembled police officers.  What makes this case special is that the targets of the warrant were black, not white.

Trained to be keen observers, after a few minutes, the police realized that they had the wrong people.  It seems that the house had been recently purchased by the new couple (can you say “stale” info in the warrant?) and the old residents (whose skin color apparently differed) had since vacated the premises.  Attuned to such nuances, it only took the cops a few pointed guns for a few minutes to realize the mistake. 

And so the Supreme Court held that the cops were protected by qualified immunity, harping on the word “reasonable”, as the cops had “no way of knowing whether the African-American suspects were elsewhere in the house.”  I have always enjoyed the rationale that the less cops know, the greater their authority to intrude. 

And for those keeping score, Justice Souter dissented.  Justices Stevens and Ginsburg concurred in outcome only.  Justice Thomas said nothing.