In the 1983 case Welsh v. Wisconsin, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that police violated a man's Fourth Amendment rights when they entered his home without a warrant to arrest him for drunk driving, which was considered a non-criminal traffic offense in Wisconsin at the time. The court held that an exception to the warrant requirement did not apply because there were no exigent circumstances justifying immediate action by law enforcement officers. Exigent circumstances are situations where people are in imminent danger, evidence is about to be destroyed or suspect is about to escape and it would be unreasonable for police officers to delay their response until obtaining a search warrant from judge. In this case, since drunk driving was only punishable as forfeiture (a fine), it didn't present such urgency requiring immediate intervention of law enforcement inside private premises without judicial oversight.

In the dissenting opinion for Welsh v. Wisconsin, Justice White argued that the majority's decision to suppress evidence due to a lack of exigent circumstances was incorrect. He contended that there were indeed exigent circumstances present in this case which justified the warrantless entry into Welsh’s home by police officers. According to him, these included preventing destruction of evidence and avoiding danger to law enforcement officers or others inside or outside the dwelling while waiting for a warrant. Furthermore, he disagreed with the majority's view on seriousness of offense as an important factor in determining whether any exigency exists; arguing instead that even minor offenses can create situations requiring immediate action from law enforcement officials without obtaining a search warrant first.