Convicts who escaped from prison had Fourth Amendment rights until the enbanc Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated the totalitarian use of Nebraska Department of Corrections administrative arrest warrants Neb. Rev. Stat. § 83-173(11) . Missouri Appellate Law Blog reports the split decision U.S. v. Lucasfrom the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals en banc that reinstated the escaped convict's charges on drugs and weapons charges arising from his apprehension while staying at his girlfriends house. The initial panel of the Eighth Circuit and the dissenters think the Department of Corrections' warrant insufficient to overcome the fourth amendment protection convicts have when absconding from incarceration. We'll think about that next time a convict escapes, takes hostages and is about to kill them and hope that defendant's lawyers won't be able to think up some creative defenses to the case.