In the United States v. LaShawn Lowell Banks case of 2003, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on whether police officers were required to wait a reasonable amount of time before forcing entry into a residence after knocking and announcing their presence. The incident began when police executed a search warrant at Banks' apartment for drugs, waiting only 15-20 seconds after knocking and announcing themselves before breaking down his door with a battering ram. Upon appeal, Banks argued that this was an unreasonable execution of the search warrant in violation of his Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable searches and seizures. The Supreme Court disagreed with Banks by ruling in favor of law enforcement officials in a unanimous decision (9-0). They held that while there is no set rule for how long officers must wait between knock-and-announce and forced entry, under these circumstances - where they had reason to believe evidence could be quickly destroyed - it was not unreasonable to enter after waiting approximately 15 seconds.

In the dissenting opinion for United States v. LaShawn Lowell Banks, Justice Ginsburg disagreed with the majority's ruling that police officers do not need to wait more than 15-20 seconds after knocking and announcing their presence before forcibly entering a residence when executing a search warrant. She argued that such an arbitrary time limit does not adequately take into account varying circumstances in different cases, such as the size of a dwelling or whether its occupant is asleep at the time of entry. Furthermore, she contended that this decision undermines Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches and seizures by allowing law enforcement too much discretion in determining how long to wait before breaking down someone’s door. This could potentially lead to unnecessary property damage and violence if occupants are startled by sudden forced entries without sufficient warning.