Lectures on Tap- The Story of the 4th Amendment:A Police Dog & a Sniff Test

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🧠 Lecture: "Sniff Test: A Police Dog and the Fourth Amendment"

🎤 Speaker: Professor Dan Breen

Join us for a fascinating evening exploring what a dog’s nose can teach us about our constitutional rights. In December 2006, Miami narcotics detectives brought a drug-sniffing dog named Frankie to the front porch of a suspected marijuana grower, Joelis Jardines. After a few sniffs, Frankie indicated there were drugs inside. That alert led to a search warrant, the discovery of cannabis, and Jardines’ conviction for drug trafficking.

But should Frankie have been on the porch at all without a warrant? Did that police dog’s sniff violate Jardines’ Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable searches?

Professor Dan Breen will unpack this pivotal case and explain how something as ordinary as a dog’s sense of smell raises profound questions about privacy in our homes and the reach of government power.

Professor Breen is Professor of the Practice of Legal Studies at Brandeis University. His book on the public monuments of Boston is due for publication in the summer of 2027.

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