The United States Supreme Court held oral argument today in two cases involving the use of drug-sniffing dogs originating from Florida.

Florida v. Jardines, case no. 11-564, concerns the propriety of using a drug-sniffing dog to search private property. Florida v. Harris, case no. 11-817, concerns the amount of evidence of training required before a court can use a drug dog alert as a basis for a search. Lyle Denniston at SCOTUSblog has an excellent summary of the cases.

Professor Orin Kerr at Volokh Conspiracy speculates that the justices will conclude the use of the drug-sniffing dog on private property in Jardines was violative of the Fourth Amendment, and that the training of the dog in Harris was adequate and therefore not a violation of the Fourth Amendment.