Get a warrant, government inspectors.

After years of litigation — including a trip to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit and a trial — that’s the commonsense opinion from U.S. District Judge Kathyrn Vratil. Score a big win for property and privacy rights.

Your home is supposed to be your castle, of course. But for decades, the government treated it like anything but one. Enter Scott Johnson, who trains hunting dogs on the rural Kansas homestead he shares with his wife Harlene. He is a second-generation trainer, nationally recognized, has won countless awards, and plays by the rules. But that didn’t stop the government from searching their property anyway and forcing him to waive his constitutional rights in exchange for a kennel license.

Under Kansas law, if Scott wanted to keep his livelihood, he was forced to accept warrantless searches at any time with no notice and no right to refuse. If he or his wife wasn’t on-site within 30 minutes of a surprise inspection, he would face automatic fines and more searches. Even asking the inspector to return later or to get a warrant was punishable.

That’s not just unreasonable but unconstitutional, as Judge Vratil has now........

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