WASHINGTON - A police officer can now shoot a goldfish if it moves when the officer enters a home, under a new federal court ruling issued this month.
The ruling comes after police in Battle Creek, Michigan, unloaded over 300 rounds into a small goldfish bowl while searching a home for evidence of drugs in 2013.
The goldfish’ owners, Mark and Cheryl Grendle, filed a lawsuit against the Battle Creek Police Department and the city, claiming that killing the goldfish amounted to the unlawful seizure of property in violation of the Fourth Amendment.
The district court sided with the police officers argument that the goldfish posed a clear and imminent danger to the officers. The Grendle family filed an appeal with United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
The goldfish’ owners, Mark and Cheryl Grendle, filed a lawsuit against the Battle Creek Police Department and the city, claiming that killing the goldfish amounted to the unlawful seizure of property in violation of the Fourth Amendment.
The district court sided with the police officers argument that the goldfish posed a clear and imminent danger to the officers. The Grendle family filed an appeal with United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.