Last month, in United States v. Braggs, — F.4th —, 2021 WL 2931403 (2d Cir. July 13, 2021), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit clarified the applicable standards governing the Fourth Amendment rights of parolees. In a unanimous opinion written by Judge Richard C. Wesley, and joined by Judge Robert D. Sack and Judge Steven J. Menashi, the Second Circuit held that parole officers’ searches of parolees are governed by the “special needs” exception to the Fourth Amendment’s default requirement that a law enforcement-related search be conducted pursuant to a showing of probable cause and a warrant. Thus, the government must show that a parole officer’s search of a parolee was rationally and reasonably related to the parole officer’s duties.

The Second Circuit’s decision clarifies that (1) lower courts should continue to apply the Second Circuit’s particular test for satisfying the “special needs” exception in cases where a parole officer searches a parolee and not the jurisprudence governing a police officer’s search of a parolee; and (2) neither state law nor state agency directives are determinative of whether a parolee search is reasonable. While the Second Circuit’s decision provides some guidance to lower courts on how to assess whether a parole officer’s search of a parolee is reasonable, lower courts in more complicated cases will need to decide how much deference to provide to parole officers’ testimony as to the reasons for the search.

Relevant Factual Background