Third Amendment
The Third Amendment of the United States Constitution prohibits the quartering of soldiers in private homes without the owner's consent during peacetime, and outlines regulations for such practices during wartime. Historically, the amendment gained particular relevance during the Civil War when property owners were required to accommodate soldiers. While instances of its direct application have been infrequent since then, one notable modern case, Engblom v. Carey (1982), recognized a legitimate expectation of privacy for corrections officers residing in prison quarters, demonstrating the amendment's ongoing relevance in discussions around privacy rights. Although the Third Amendment is rarely invoked in contemporary legal cases, it is occasionally referenced in broader interpretations of constitutional protections related to privacy, alongside other amendments. For example, courts have included it in discussions surrounding the right to privacy, despite its limited direct application in recent judicial decisions. Overall, the Third Amendment serves as a historical and legal benchmark for understanding individual privacy and property rights within the context of military presence.
Third Amendment
Description: Amendment that denies quarter in private homes to soldiers.
Significance: Contemporary use of the amendment by the Supreme Court has been minimal and the Third Amendment is often used simply as a reference exemplifying constitutional protections of property-based privacy rights against certain governmental intrusions.
The Third Amendment states that "no Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any home, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law." The last time the Third Amendment had serious literal application was during the Civil War (1861–65), when property owners were made to house, feed, and generally support both Union and Confederate soldiers. American soldiers were also quartered in homes on the Aleutian Islands during World War II, but the practice did not lead to any significant legal challenges. Today, such literal application of the Third Amendment is rare. However, in Engblom v. Carey (1982), a federal appellate court held that striking corrections officers had a lawful interest in their living quarters, located at the prison and provided in the course of their employment, which entitled them to a legitimate expectation of privacy protected by the Third Amendment.
For development of privacy rights, the Supreme Court usually relied on provisions of other amendments such as the Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable search and seizure and used the Third Amendment simply as a nominal reference to general constitutional protections. For example, in a footnote to Katz v. United States (1967), a landmark decision regarding Fourth Amendment privacy rights, Justice Potter Stewart merely listed the Third Amendment in his enumeration of constitutional protections.
This contemporary reliance is typified by State v. Coburn (1974), in which the Montana supreme court cited the First, Third, Fourth, and Fifth Amendments as the “umbrella of constitutional protections” afforded individual privacy. On the other hand, in Mitchell v. City of Henderson (2015), Andrew Gordon, a federal judge for the US District Court for the District of Nevada, threw out a Third Amendment claim filed by the Mitchell family, whose home was forcefully occupied by police officers in an effort to gain a tactical advantage over a criminal suspect in a neighboring home in 2011; Judge Gordon held that municipal police could not be considered soldiers and that the time they spent in the house could not be considered quartering under the Third Amendment.
Bibliography
Alderman, Ellen, and Caroline Kennedy. In Our Defense: The Bill of Rights in Action. New York: HarperCollins, 1992. Print.
Balko, Radley. "How Did America's Police Become a Military Force on the Streets?" ABA Journal. American Bar Assn., 1 July 2013. Web. 3 Dec. 2015.
Bell, Tom W. "The Third Amendment: Forgotten but Not Gone." William and Mary Bill of Rights Journal 2.1 (1993): 117–50. Print.
Labunski, Richard. James Madison and the Struggle for the Bill of Rights. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2008. Print.
Somin, Ilya. "Federal Court Rejects Third Amendment Claim against Police Officers." Washington Post. Washington Post, 23 Mar. 2015. Web. 3 Dec. 2015.
Wood, Gordon S. Empire of Liberty: A History of the Early Republic, 1789–1815. New York: Oxford UP, 2009. Print.