Bailey v. United States

The Supreme Court noted the Summers Doctrine permits law enforcement officers to seize persons at the scene of a search warrant for the execution of that warrant. The Summers Court created this authority for three reasons: (1) officer safety, (2) facilitating the completion of the search, and (3) preventing flight. There was no evidence that any of these interests were placed in jeopardy by the defendant’s actions in this case in that his absence from the premises did not interfere with the execution of the warrant. Summers provided guidance regarding how the government was to handle occupants found at the scene of a search warrant rather that create an opportunity to introduce otherwise occupied persons to the search warrant process. The Summers Court noted the detention of a current occupant “represents only an incremental intrusion on personal liberty when the search of a home has been authorized by a valid warrant” as compared to the defendant’s seizure here, which was beyond the bounds anticipated by the Court.