Today the Court held that if you're at a friends house when the police execute a search warrant, they can put you in handcuffs for two or three hours. Muehler v. Mena. I wish I were being sarcastic. But the Court held that the police are not required to let you leave, even if there is no reasonable suspicion that you have committed any crimes. Being in a home being searched is per se justification for being held for three hours in handcuffs. Id. at *5 ("Mena’s detention for the duration of the search was reasonable under Summers because a warrant existed to search 1363 Patricia Avenue and she was an occupant of that address at the time of the search.")
The Court reversed the Ninth Circuit, by the way, as the CA9 had held that such a search was unreasonable. I'm glad we have the Court to protect us from the "activist" Ninth Circuit.
