"No soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in manner to be prescribed by law."
To be honest I forgot this amendment existed. I don't feel too bad because the Third Amendment has only been applied on a few occasions. The statement just means that the government cannot make people house a soldier in their home in times of peace. The Third Amendment protects the privacy of every home owner by giving them the right to stop soldiers from using their private property.
In 2011, a family in Henderson, Nevada sued the police officers that took over their home without warrants in response to a domestic violence call made by a neighbor. This is one of the unusual occasions when the Third Amendment is used.
http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/las-vegas/judge-police-takeover-henderson-homes-not-covered-third-amendment
This is the article that explains what became of the case. Ultimately the federal judge ruled that the family's charge is not covered by the Third Amendment. There are other constitutional violations in this case that are being looked into. The ruling allows the Mitchells to proceed with their claims that police violated the Fourth Amendment, which doesn't allow unreasonable searches and seizures, and the First Amendment, which protects freedom of speech.
"According to the lawsuit, police retaliated against the Mitchells for engaging in protected speech activities, which included photographing police conduct from inside their homes. Anthony Mitchell also made a gesture with his middle finger to one of the officers."
It is not normal for Americans to quarter soldiers anymore, so I thought this news story was an interesting example of how the Third Amendment can be (attempted to be)used in a court of law in other instances.
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