Opinion

Michael Mockeridge v. Harry Harvey

Court
Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
Filed
Aug 11, 2025
Status
Published
Cited by
0 cases
Authority
More cited than 38.7%

The opinion

RECOMMENDED FOR PUBLICATION

Pursuant to Sixth Circuit I.O.P. 32.1(b)

File Name: 25a0217p.06

UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT

┐

MICHAEL MOCKERIDGE; SUSAN J. MOCKERIDGE,

│

Plaintiffs-Appellees/Cross-Appellants, │

│

v. │

> Nos. 23-1942/1998

│

HARRY HARVEY, in his personal capacity; DAVID │

SCHMIDT, in both his official and personal capacities; │

KENNETH GIBSON, in his personal capacity, │

Defendants-Appellants/Cross-Appellees, │

│

│

│

ALCONA COUNTY, MICHIGAN, by its Board of │

Commissioners; KEITH KRENTZ; CALEDONIA │

TOWNSHIP, MICHIGAN, │

Defendants-Appellees (23-1998). │

┘

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan at Bay City.

No. 1:21-cv-12896—Thomas L. Ludington, District Judge.

Argued: July 23, 2025

Decided and Filed: August 11, 2025

Before: KETHLEDGE, MURPHY, and MATHIS, Circuit Judges.

_________________

COUNSEL

ARGUED: John T. Gemellaro, MCGRAW MORRIS P.C., Troy, Michigan, for Kenneth

Gibson and Caledonia Township. Matthew T. Nelson, WARNER NORCROSS + JUDD LLP,

Grand Rapids, Michigan, for Harry Harvey and David Schmidt. Philip L. Ellison, OUTSIDE

LEGAL COUNSEL PLC, Hemlock, Michigan, for Michael and Susan Mockeridge.

ON BRIEF: Thomas R. Meagher, Daniel S. Zick, FOSTER, SWIFT, COLLINS & SMITH,

P.C., Lansing, Michigan, for Kenneth Gibson. Matthew T. Nelson, Ashley L. Yuill, WARNER

NORCROSS + JUDD LLP, Grand Rapids, Michigan, for Harry Harvey and David Schmidt.

Philip L. Ellison, OUTSIDE LEGAL COUNSEL PLC, Hemlock, Michigan, for Michael and

Nos. 23-1942/1998 Mockeridge et al. v. Harvey et al. Page 2

Susan Mockeridge. Douglas J. Curlew, CUMMINGS, MCCLOREY, DAVIS & ACHO, P.L.C.,

Livonia, Michigan, for Alcona County.

_________________

OPINION

_________________

MATHIS, Circuit Judge. Michael and Susan Mockeridge claim that three local

government officials violated their Fourth Amendment rights by searching the area surrounding

mini-cabins they own, which are located on a clearing of their secluded 40-acre retreat in the

Michigan woodlands. The district court rejected the three officials’ qualified-immunity defense,

and the officials appealed. We affirm.

I.

In September 2020, Michael Mockeridge and Susan Mockeridge purchased 40 acres of

land in northern Michigan for “cabining, enjoying nature, and family gatherings.” R. 79-2,

PageID 805. The property is remote. To access it, one leaves Hubbard Lake Trail—the nearest

public road—and traverses Skylar Trail before reaching the Mockeridges’ 7,200-square-foot

“driveway” at the east of the property. Id. at 805. Their one-story, 696-square-foot residential

cabin is at the end of the driveway, in the northwest corner of the property.

Shortly after purchase, the Mockeridges and their adult children decided to install five

prefabricated 200-square-foot “mini-cabins” near the original cabin as “sleeping quarters” for

family members. R. 85-2, PageID 1483. The Mockeridges claim that before purchasing the

mini-cabins, they spoke with two Alcona County officials, including Harry Harvey—the

building inspector—who advised them that they did not need permits for their project. Harvey

denied this.

In any event, the Mockeridges ordered and set up the five mini-cabins on their property,

installed a sign along the driveway which read, in part, “Mockeridge Family Campground,” and

began sleeping in the mini-cabins. The mini-cabins are clustered at least 80 feet from the

original cabin, abutting the neighboring property to the north, on cleared land relative to the

dense surrounding forest. Each mini-cabin has at least one bed and closet, a loft, an electrical

Nos. 23-1942/1998 Mockeridge et al. v. Harvey et al. Page 3

circuit-breaker box and electrical outlets, but no plumbing. The roofs are insulated, and the walls

are “solid logs.” Id. at 1405. The mini-cabins have small porches and multiple windows.

Keith Krentz, an owner of adjacent property, saw the Mockeridge Family Campground

sign and became concerned that the Mockeridges planned to operate a public campground. In

May 2021, Krentz and three other neighbors submitted complaints to the Alcona County health

department reporting this concern, as well as concerns about licensing, sanitation, and fire

hazards.

On June 2, 2021, Krentz escorted three government officials—Harvey, David Schmidt,

the environmental health program coordinator of District Health Department No. 2 for Alcona

County, and Kenneth Gibson, the Caledonia Township zoning administrator—to the

Mockeridges’ property to see the mini-cabins. Krentz first drove Harvey, Schmidt, and Gibson

up Skylar Trail and the Mockeridges’ driveway. They observed the Family Campground sign

along the driveway, and then Krentz turned around and drove the group to his godson’s property,

which abuts the Mockeridges’ property to the north. There is no regular access to the

Mockeridges’ property from the north. Nonetheless, through dense woods, the group observed

the Mockeridges’ cabins beyond the northern property line. At the time, the cabins were

unoccupied.

Gibson observed that one of the mini-cabins appeared to violate Caledonia Township’s

setback requirements. He then entered the Mockeridges’ property to measure the setback from

the mini-cabin closest to the property line.

Harvey and Schmidt then came onto the Mockeridges’ property and inspected the mini-

cabins and the surrounding area. Harvey used a flashlight, looked in the windows of the mini-

cabins, and observed that they had bunk beds and electricity, but he believed they did not have

smoke detectors. Gibson did not enter any of the cabins or look in their windows.

Krentz followed Gibson, Harvey, and Schmidt onto the property and took photographs,

including one capturing all three officials near one of the mini-cabins. The officials did not

obtain a warrant or the Mockeridges’ consent for the visit.

Nos. 23-1942/1998 Mockeridge et al. v. Harvey et al. Page 4

On June 16, 2021, Schmidt mailed a letter to the Mockeridges informing them that the

County had received complaints about an unlicensed campground at their property, and that he

and other representatives of Alcona County and Caledonia Township had visited the

Mockeridges’ property to investigate. The letter detailed the officials’ findings from the site

visit, classified the Mockeridges’ property as a campground, and advised that they needed to

begin the licensing process. On July 30, 2021, the Mockeridges applied for the requisite building

permits. Upon being informed that Alcona County would approve the permits, but with a

penalty for starting work before obtaining the permits, the Mockeridges sued.

Pertinent here, the Mockeridges brought a Fourth Amendment claim under 42 U.S.C.

§ 1983 against Harvey, Schmidt, and Gibson, asserting that the officials had conducted an

unreasonable search during the site visit.

The Mockeridges and the government officials cross-moved for summary judgment. The

Mockeridges asserted that they were entitled to summary judgment as to liability on their Fourth

Amendment claim; Harvey, Schmidt, and Gibson countered that they were entitled to qualified

immunity on that claim. The district court granted the Mockeridges’ motion and denied

qualified immunity to Harvey, Schmidt, and Gibson.

Harvey, Schmidt, and Gibson timely appealed the district court’s denial of qualified

immunity.

II.

Harvey, Schmidt, and Gibson argue that they are entitled to summary judgment because

qualified immunity shields them from suit. “We review de novo the district court’s decision to

deny qualified immunity.” Josephson v. Ganzel, 115 F.4th 771, 783 (6th Cir. 2024) (citation

omitted). “A public official is entitled to qualified immunity at summary judgment when,

viewing the facts in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, the challenged conduct did not

violate clearly established constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have

known.” Heeter v. Bowers, 99 F.4th 900, 908 (6th Cir. 2024) (citation modified). Summary

judgment is appropriate where “the movant shows that there is no genuine dispute [of] material

fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a). “We may

Nos. 23-1942/1998 Mockeridge et al. v. Harvey et al. Page 5

affirm the district court’s judgment on any ground supported by the record.” Bazzi v. City of

Dearborn, 658 F.3d 598, 606 (6th Cir. 2011) (citation modified).

A.

Before reaching the merits, we must address our jurisdiction. The Mockeridges move to

dismiss the appeal, arguing that we lack jurisdiction because the officials do not concede the

Mockeridges’ version of the facts.

We have authority to exercise jurisdiction over a final decision of the district court,

28 U.S.C. § 1291, which is a decision that “ends the litigation on the merits and leaves nothing

for the court to do but execute the judgment,” Catlin v. United States, 324 U.S. 229, 233 (1945).

That said, “a district court’s denial of a claim of qualified immunity, to the extent that it turns on

an issue of law, is an appealable ‘final decision’ within the meaning of 28 U.S.C. § 1291

notwithstanding the absence of a final judgment.” Mitchell v. Forsyth, 472 U.S. 511, 530 (1985).

We can thus “hear interlocutory appeals considering the legal question of qualified immunity,

i.e., whether a given set of facts violates clearly established law.” Moldowan v. City of Warren,

578 F.3d 351, 369 (6th Cir. 2009) (citation modified). But a defendant raising a qualified-

immunity defense “may not appeal a district court’s summary judgment order insofar as that

order determines whether or not the pretrial record sets forth a ‘genuine’ issue of fact for trial.”

Johnson v. Jones, 515 U.S. 304, 319–20 (1995). In short, our jurisdiction in considering the

denial of a government official’s claim of qualified immunity “is limited to resolving pure

questions of law.” Moldowan, 578 F.3d at 369.

The district court granted summary judgment to the Mockeridges with respect to their

Fourth Amendment claim. In doing so, it determined that the officials were not entitled to

qualified immunity and were liable as a matter of law for violating the Mockeridges’ Fourth

Amendment rights. The district court specified that the only triable issue on that claim was

damages. We have jurisdiction over the officials’ interlocutory appeal of the denial of qualified

immunity because it presents a pure question of law. See id.

The Mockeridges argue that the officials “must specifically concede they warrantlessly

searched the Skylar Trail Property’s curtilage without any permission or consent of the

Nos. 23-1942/1998 Mockeridge et al. v. Harvey et al. Page 6

Mockeridge Plaintiffs.” D. 39 at p.12. We disagree. We have reviewed whether a government

official has conducted an unreasonable search of a house, including a house’s curtilage, as a

question of law. See Widgren v. Maple Grove Township, 429 F.3d 575, 582–86 (6th Cir. 2005);

see also Daughenbaugh v. City of Tiffin, 150 F.3d 594, 597 (6th Cir. 1998); Morgan v. Fairfield

County, 903 F.3d 553, 560–62 (6th Cir. 2018).

Harvey, Schmidt, and Gibson challenge only the district court’s legal conclusions related

to the alleged search of the Mockeridges’ property. They do not dispute the Mockeridges’

version of the material facts. As such, the appeal is properly before us.

B.

Turning to the merits, Harvey, Schmidt, and Gibson assert that qualified immunity bars

the Mockeridges’ § 1983 Fourth Amendment claim for damages against them in their personal

capacities. “To succeed on a § 1983 claim, a plaintiff must first identify a constitutional right,

then show that a person acting under the color of state law deprived him of that right.”

Susselman v. Washtenaw Cnty. Sheriff’s Off., 109 F.4th 864, 870 (6th Cir. 2024) (citation

omitted). Qualified immunity shields government officials sued in their personal capacity from

liability for civil damages unless: “(1) they violated a federal statutory or constitutional right, and

(2) the unlawfulness of their conduct was clearly established at the time.” District of Columbia

v. Wesby, 583 U.S. 48, 62–63 (2018) (citation modified). “For a right to be clearly established,

existing precedent must have placed the statutory or constitutional question beyond debate.”

White v. Pauly, 580 U.S. 73, 79 (2017) (per curiam) (citation modified). The burden falls on the

plaintiff to show “that the defendant is not entitled to qualified immunity.” Mosier v. Evans,

90 F.4th 541, 546 (6th Cir. 2024) (citation omitted).

1. Fourth Amendment Violation

The Fourth Amendment, applicable to the States through the Fourteenth Amendment,

provides that “[t]he right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects,

against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated.” U.S. Const. amend. IV; Lanza

v. New York, 370 U.S. 139, 142 (1962). To determine whether Harvey, Schmidt, and Gibson

committed a Fourth Amendment violation, we must answer two questions. First, did they search

Nos. 23-1942/1998 Mockeridge et al. v. Harvey et al. Page 7

the Mockeridges’ house(s)? See Taylor v. City of Saginaw, 922 F.3d 328, 332 (6th Cir. 2019). If

so, was the search reasonable? See id.

The Search. The Supreme Court has adopted two approaches to determine when a

government official engages in conduct that constitutes a search—the property-based approach

and the reasonable-expectation-of-privacy approach. Under the property-based approach, a

search occurs when a government official “obtains information by physically intruding on

persons, houses, papers, or effects.” Florida v. Jardines, 569 U.S. 1, 5 (2013) (citation

modified). Under the reasonable-expectation-of-privacy approach, a search occurs when a

government official intrudes into a person’s “private sphere.” Carpenter v. United States,

585 U.S. 296, 304 (2018) (citation omitted). Specifically, the person must “seek[] to preserve

something as private, and his expectation of privacy” must be “one that society is prepared to

recognize as reasonable.” Id. (citation modified). We analyze the Mockeridges’ Fourth

Amendment claim using the property-based approach.

“When it comes to the Fourth Amendment, the home is first among equals. At the

Amendment’s very core stands the right of a man to retreat into his own home and there be free

from unreasonable governmental intrusion.” Jardines, 569 U.S. at 6 (citation modified).

“People call a house ‘their’ home when legal title is in the bank, when they rent it, and even

when they merely occupy it rent free.” Minnesota v. Carter, 525 U.S. 83, 95–96 (1998) (Scalia,

J., concurring). A home, or a house, includes a “secluded cabin,” United States v. Knotts, 460

U.S. 276, 277, 282 (1983), or “a hunting and fishing cabin,” California v. Carney, 471 U.S. 386,

407 (1985) (Stevens, J., dissenting). As the Supreme Court has noted, “the most frail cottage”

receives the same protection “as the most majestic mansion.” United States v. Ross, 456 U.S.

798, 822 (1982).

A person does not lose Fourth Amendment protection by not continuously occupying a

house or by owning multiple houses. “A home does not lose its character as a home because it

may be temporarily unoccupied. The fact that a dwelling house may be unoccupied at the time

of the search does not permit a search without a warrant.” Roberson v. United States, 165 F.2d

752, 754 (6th Cir. 1948) (citations omitted). Nor does the Fourth Amendment “limit its

protection to a single house or home.” Id.

Nos. 23-1942/1998 Mockeridge et al. v. Harvey et al. Page 8

The Mockeridges are entitled to Fourth Amendment protection because their mini-cabins

are “houses” as the Amendment uses that term. The mini-cabins are more robust than “the most

frail cottage.” Ross, 456 U.S. at 822. Their walls are solid logs; their roofs are insulated; and

each mini-cabin has at least a bed and closet, a loft, an electrical circuit-breaker box and

electrical outlets, a small porch, and multiple windows. The windows have blinds, and on the

date of the search at issue, at least some blinds were completely drawn. Each cabin has an

external lock with its own set of keys, and at least one has a firepit in front. The cabins are also

in a remote area, secluded by dense forest, and are not visible from any public area.

The Mockeridges’ Fourth Amendment protection extends to the curtilage of the mini-

cabins. The curtilage is “the land immediately surrounding and associated with the home,”

which is “considered part of [the] home itself for Fourth Amendment purposes.” Oliver v.

United States, 466 U.S. 170, 180 (1984). We consider four factors in determining whether land

near a house is part of the house’s curtilage:

[1] the proximity of the area claimed to be curtilage to the home, [2] whether the

area is included within an enclosure surrounding the home, [3] the nature of the

uses to which the area is put, and [4] the steps taken by the resident to protect the

area from observation by people passing by.

United States v. Dunn, 480 U.S. 294, 301 (1987). The “centrally relevant consideration” is

“whether the area in question is so intimately tied to the home itself that it should be placed

under the home’s ‘umbrella’ of Fourth Amendment protection.” Id. Notably, there is no “fixed

distance at which curtilage ends.” Daughenbaugh, 150 F.3d at 598–99 (quotation omitted). In

fact, we have held that various distances from a house constitute curtilage. See, e.g., United

States v. Bennett, 170 F.3d 632, 638–39 (6th Cir. 1999) (60 to 100 feet); Morgan, 903 F.3d at

561 (five to seven feet).

During the subject site visit, Harvey, Schmidt, and Gibson entered the curtilage of the

mini-cabins. Krentz took a photograph that shows all three officials standing a few feet from a

mini-cabin during the visit. The officials therefore trespassed upon the constitutionally protected

area of the mini-cabins.

Nos. 23-1942/1998 Mockeridge et al. v. Harvey et al. Page 9

Not only did Harvey, Schmidt, and Gibson trespass on the Mockeridges’ property, but

they did so to obtain information regarding compliance with local housing, zoning, and

sanitation regulations. So they conducted a search. See United States v. Jones, 565 U.S. 400,

406–07 & n.3 (2012). Harvey “looked in three of [the mini-cabins] and [] definitely did not see

any smoke detectors” in them. R. 85-8, PageID 1636. He also saw that “there were beds, there

were bunks” and that “they were very nice cabins.” Id. When Gibson entered the property, he

used a measuring tape to measure the setback of one of the mini-cabins from the property line.

Schmidt told Mr. Mockeridge during a phone call that he “entered his property from a

neighboring property to investigate the complaint[s].” R. 90-10, PageID 2181.

Schmidt claims that he only walked from the property line to the front door of the

original cabin, knocked, and then retreated beyond the property line when there was no answer.

But the evidentiary record belies this claim. Krentz photographed Schmidt standing a few feet

from one of the mini-cabins, looking directly at it, close enough to peer into the windows.

Schmidt also admitted to taking “a few photos of the cabins.” R. 85-10, PageID 1709. And he

sent the Mockeridges a letter explaining the information the officials obtained during the search

of the property.

Gibson, relying on Widgren v. Maple Grove Township, argues that he did not conduct a

search. In Widgren, we applied only the reasonable-expectation-of-privacy approach to hold that

“a property assessor does not conduct a Fourth Amendment search by entering the curtilage for

the tax purpose of naked-eye observations of the house’s plainly visible exterior attributes and

dimensions—all without touching, entering or looking into the house.” 429 F.3d at 585–86. But

Gibson is not a property assessor. And he did not enter the curtilage of the mini-cabins for a tax

purpose. Instead, Gibson walked right up to a mini-cabin and used a measuring tape to measure

the setback distance from the adjacent property.

Moreover, Widgren’s rationale likely does not survive the Supreme Court’s

reinvigoration of the property-based approach, under which a search occurs when a government

official “physically intrudes on the curtilage to gather evidence.” Collins v. Virginia, 584 U.S.

586, 593 (2018). That is exactly what Gibson did.

Nos. 23-1942/1998 Mockeridge et al. v. Harvey et al. Page 10

The Reasonableness of the Search. The Fourth Amendment bars “unreasonable”

searches. Florida v. Jimeno, 500 U.S. 248, 250 (1991). It “does not proscribe all state-initiated

searches.” Id. “[S]earches conducted outside the judicial process, without prior approval by

judge or magistrate, are per se unreasonable under the Fourth Amendment—subject only to a

few specifically established and well-delineated exceptions.” Arizona v. Gant, 556 U.S. 332,

338 (2009) (quotation omitted). “The government bears the burden of demonstrating an

exception to the warrant requirement.” Taylor, 922 F.3d at 334 (citing United States v. Jeffers,

342 U.S. 48, 51 (1951)).

Harvey, Schmidt, and Gibson do not offer much in the form of an exception. Schmidt

alludes to the de minimis exception by characterizing his intrusion into the mini-cabin curtilage

as “minimal.” D. 35 at p.46. The de minimis exception to the search-warrant requirement

permits minor, warrantless government intrusions only when “substantial” government interests

are at stake. United States v. Jacobsen, 466 U.S. 109, 125 (1984). In assessing the

reasonableness of such a search, “we must balance the nature and quality of the intrusion on the

individual’s Fourth Amendment interests against the importance of the governmental interests

alleged to justify the intrusion.” Id. (citation modified). The balance favors the Mockeridges.

Harvey, Schmidt, and Gibson intruded significantly on the Mockeridges’ property. A

government official, like a private citizen, may “approach the home by the front path, knock

promptly, wait briefly to be received, and then (absent invitation to linger longer) leave.”

Jardines, 569 U.S. at 8. He cannot, however, “traipse through the garden, meander into the

backyard, or take other circuitous detours that veer from the pathway that a visitor would

customarily use.” Morgan, 903 F.3d at 563 (quotation omitted). But that is what the officials

did. Rather than proceed up the Mockeridges’ driveway to the original cabin, they entered the

property through the woods from the adjacent private lot, foregoing any recognizable or

acceptable path to the cabins.

The officials’ interest in intrusion was insubstantial. Its minimal interest in identifying

potential housing-code violations for fully constructed mini-cabins on a secluded clearing of

remote private property that exhibited no immediate danger pales in comparison to, for example,

Nos. 23-1942/1998 Mockeridge et al. v. Harvey et al. Page 11

the substantial interest, recognized by Jacobsen, in identifying and seizing cocaine before it is

shipped in interstate commerce. See 466 U.S. at 111–12, 125–26.

Accordingly, Harvey, Schmidt, and Gibson unreasonably searched the Mockeridges’

property in violation of the Mockeridges’ Fourth Amendment rights.

2. Clearly Established Right

Harvey, Schmidt, and Gibson argue that even if they committed a Fourth Amendment

violation, the Mockeridges failed to show a clearly established right.

“[A] defendant cannot be said to have violated a clearly established right unless the

right’s contours were sufficiently definite that any reasonable official in the defendant’s shoes

would have understood that he was violating it.” Plumhoff v. Rickard, 572 U.S. 765, 778–79

(2014) (citation omitted). “In determining the contours of the right, there is a tension between

defining the right at too high a level of generality, on one hand, and too granular a level, on the

other.” Morgan, 903 F.3d at 564. There need not be “a case directly on point, but existing

precedent must have placed the . . . constitutional question beyond debate.” Ashcroft v. al-Kidd,

563 U.S. 731, 741 (2011). “The general proposition . . . that an unreasonable search or seizure

violates the Fourth Amendment is of little help in determining whether the violative nature of

particular conduct is clearly established.” Id. at 742. The key question is whether a reasonable

government officer would have “fair warning” that the challenged conduct was unconstitutional.

Hope v. Pelzer, 536 U.S. 730, 741 (2002).

Harvey, Schmidt, and Gibson violated the Mockeridges’ clearly established Fourth

Amendment rights. As discussed, the Supreme Court acknowledged in Jardines that government

officials can approach a home’s front entrance, knock, wait briefly for a response, and then

leave. 569 U.S. at 8. But not more. See id. at 19 (Alito, J., dissenting); Morgan, 903 F.3d at

563.

We followed Jardines in Morgan. There, we held that police officers violated the Fourth

Amendment by entering the curtilage of a home—a backyard and side yard—without a warrant

before informing the plaintiff of their presence during a “knock and talk” of the sort

Nos. 23-1942/1998 Mockeridge et al. v. Harvey et al. Page 12

contemplated in Jardines. 903 F.3d at 563. Although we granted qualified immunity to the

officers—because the scope of the implied license to “knock and talk” was not clearly

established at the time—we were careful to clarify that our holding “put officers on notice that

principles of Jardines and Collins . . . should guide their actions going forward.” Id. at 565.

A year later, in Watson v. Pearson, we denied qualified immunity to police officers who

conducted a warrantless search of curtilage—the rear and side yards of a home. 928 F.3d 507,

512–13 (6th Cir. 2019). We held specifically that the officers should have known that deviating

from the front path to enter the side and rear yards to obtain information violated the Fourth

Amendment. Id.

Additionally, “the right to be free from a warrantless code-compliance search with no

alternative pre-compliance review was clearly established” as early as 2009. Gardner v. Evans,

920 F.3d 1038, 1044, 1056 (6th Cir. 2019).

The Fourth Amendment rights at issue were clearly established by 2019, at the very

latest. That is two years before Harvey, Schmidt, and Gibson conducted the June 2021 search.

Thus, Harvey, Schmidt, and Gibson should have known that their inspection of the Mockeridges’

secluded mini-cabins to discover possible housing- and zoning-code violations would violate the

Mockeridges’ Fourth Amendment rights.

III.

Because Harvey, Schmidt, and Gibson unreasonably searched the Mockeridges’ mini-

cabins in violation of clearly established law, we AFFIRM the district court’s denial of qualified

immunity. We DISMISS the Mockeridges’ cross-appeal as moot. And we DENY Alcona

County’s motion to be dismissed from this appeal as moot.

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.

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