Also known as: public places · public space
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A location to which the public or any substantial group has access, including government-maintained areas such as parks, sidewalks, highways, and pedestrian arcades.
Officers spot Paula Pierce's car parked on a public street and develop probable cause that the vehicle itself is subject to forfeiture as contraband. They seize the car without a warrant and later conduct an inventory search that yields incriminating evidence. The seizure is upheld because the car was located in a public place when probable cause arose.
Prime Logistics hires an independent contractor to repair a sidewalk in front of its warehouse. The contractor negligently leaves an open trench without barriers or warnings. Phuong Pham, a pedestrian walking on the sidewalk, falls into the trench and is injured. Prime Logistics faces liability for the harm caused by the contractor's negligence in the public place.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Officers develop probable cause to arrest Philip Powell on a public sidewalk. Powell sees the officers and flees into a nearby apartment building. The officers pursue him inside without a warrant and complete the arrest. The entry is lawful under the hot pursuit doctrine because the encounter began in a public place.
Police develop probable cause that Portia Price committed a felony. They locate and arrest her on a public sidewalk without obtaining a warrant even though time was available. The arrest is valid because it occurred in a public place where no warrant is required.
Pablo Perez fires a rifle from a rooftop overlooking a crowded public plaza during a festival. The shots create a great risk of death to multiple bystanders in the public place. Prosecutors rely on this circumstance as an aggravating factor supporting a capital sentence.
Piper Patel detonates an explosive device in a public park during a large outdoor concert. The blast endangers numerous attendees gathered in the public place. The circumstance is cited as an aggravating factor in the capital sentencing proceeding.
No. A public place includes any location to which the public or a substantial group has access, even if privately owned, such as a bus terminal or commercial sidewalk open to pedestrians.
When officers have probable cause that a vehicle is contraband subject to forfeiture, they may seize it without a warrant if the vehicle is located in a public place at the time.
An employer who hires an independent contractor to perform work in a public place is subject to liability for physical harm to members of the public caused by the contractor's negligence that renders the place dangerous.
Yes. When officers have probable cause to arrest a suspect in a public place and the suspect retreats into a private dwelling, the hot pursuit doctrine permits officers to follow and complete the arrest without a warrant.
No. Police may arrest a person in a public place on probable cause without a warrant, even when they have ample time to obtain one beforehand.
…between adults for the years 1880-1995 are not always clear in the details, but a significant number involved conduct in a public place. See Brief for American Civil Liberties Union et al. as Amici Curiae 14-15, and n. 18. It was not until the 1970's that any State singled out same-sex relations for criminal prosecution,…