Amateur Strip-Club Arrests: Probable Cause & Qualified Immunity (CRS Report for Congress)
| Release Date |
Revised Jan. 24, 2018 |
| Report Number |
LSB10068 |
| Report Type |
Legal Sidebar |
| Authors |
Charles Doyle |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
| Older Revisions |
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Summary:
The Supreme Court overturned a lower court decision that had found a lack of probable cause, and had
denied police officers qualified immunity for arrest of participants in a late-night, strip-club-like party
held in a vacant sparsely furnished house. The case, District of Columbia v. Wesby, began when a
neighbor called police to complain about loud noise coming from a party in a vacant house. When the
police arrived, they found several scantily clad women entertaining the party goers with money
protruding from the clothes the women were wearing. The party goers claimed to have permission for the
affair from “Peaches,” a woman who was not to be found in the house. As it turned out, the officers
learned that Peaches was neither the owner nor a tenant of the house, but had merely been in contact with
the owner about the possibility of renting. The owner denied giving permission for the party. The watch
commander on the scene then ordered the officers to arrest the party goers for trespassing.
