Kathleen Rush, Eleanor Fraser and San Mateo County Daycare Association v. Mario Obledo, Secretary of California Health and Welfare Agency

In this case the issue is whether California state statutes and regulations permitting warrantless inspections of family day care homes violate the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution, enforceable against the states through the Fourteenth Amendment. Concluding that the vital governmental interest in the protection of children furthered by warrantless inspections is paramount, and that the regulation of family day care homes is sufficiently pervasive so “that the owner of such a facility cannot help but be aware that he ‘will be subject to effective inspection,’ ” Donovan v. Dewey, 452 U.S. 594, 603 , 101 S.Ct. 2534, 2540 , 69 L.Ed.2d 262 (1981) (quoting United States v. Biswell, 406 U.S. 311, 316 , 92 S.Ct. 1593, 1596 , 32 L.Ed.2d 87 (1972)), we hold that properly limited warrantless inspections of family day care homes fall within the “pervasively regulated business” exception to the warrant requirement and thus do not violate the Fourth Amendment. United States v. Biswell, 406 U.S. 311, 316 , 92 S.Ct. 1593, 1596 , 32 L.Ed.2d 87 (1972). See Donovan v. Dewey, 452 U.S. 594 , 101 S.Ct. 2534 , 69 L.Ed.2d 262 (1981); Colonnade Catering Corp. v. United States, 397 U.S.…