Charles H. Wilson, et Ux., et al. v. Harry Layne, Deputy United States Marshal, Etc., et al.

Decided May 24, 1999. William Hubbs Rehnquist delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 98-83 · 526 U.S. 603 (1999) · Cited 2,678 times

Holding

A “media ride-along ” in a home violates the Fourth Amendment, but because the state of the law was not clearly established at the time the entry in this case took place, respondent officers are entitled to qualified immunity.

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.

How the Justices voted

Decided 8–1.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• Anderson v. Creighton · 483 U.S. 635 (1987)
• Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of Federal Bureau of Narcotics · 403 U.S. 388 (1971)
• Harlow v. Fitzgerald · 457 U.S. 800 (1982)
• Payton v. New York · 445 U.S. 573 (1980)
• United States v. Lanier · 520 U.S. 259 (1997)
• Ohio v. Robinette · 519 U.S. 33 (1996)
• Graham v. Connor · 490 U.S. 386 (1989)
• Siegert v. Gilley · 500 U.S. 226 (1991)
• Malley v. Briggs · 475 U.S. 335 (1986)
• County of Sacramento v. Lewis · 523 U.S. 833 (1998)
• Pierson v. Ray · 386 U.S. 547 (1967)
• Boyd v. United States · 116 U.S. 616 (1886)
• Horton v. California · 496 U.S. 128 (1990)
• Wood v. Strickland · 420 U.S. 308 (1975)
• Michigan v. Summers · 452 U.S. 692 (1981)
• Richmond Newspapers, Inc. v. Virginia · 448 U.S. 555 (1980)
• United States v. United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan · 407 U.S. 297 (1972)
• Arizona v. Hicks · 480 U.S. 321 (1987)
• Cox Broadcasting Corp. v. Cohn · 420 U.S. 469 (1975)
• Maryland v. Garrison · 480 U.S. 79 (1987)
• Procunier v. Navarette · 434 U.S. 555 (1978)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• Ashcroft v. Iqbal · 556 U.S. 662 (2009)
• Pearson v. Callahan · 555 U.S. 223 (2009)
• Ziglar v. Abbasi · 582 U.S. 120 (2017)
• Kisela v. Hughes · 584 U.S. 100 (2018)
• Plumhoff v. Rickard · 572 U.S. 765 (2014)
• Safford Unified School District 1 v. Redding · 557 U.S. 364 (2009)
• Fernandez v. California · 571 U.S. 292 (2014)
• Hope v. Pelzer · 536 U.S. 730 (2002)
• Reichle v. Howards · 566 U.S. 658 (2012)
• Hartman v. Moore · 547 U.S. 250 (2006)
• Groh v. Ramirez · 540 U.S. 551 (2004)
• Georgia v. Randolph · 547 U.S. 103 (2006)
• Messerschmidt v. Millender · 565 U.S. 535 (2012)
• Illinois v. McArthur · 531 U.S. 326 (2001)
• Ohio Adjutant General's Dept. v. FLRA · 598 U.S. 449 (2023)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1999). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).