The Virginia Supreme Court resolved a major Fourth Amendment dispute this month, ruling that a zoning official’s search of a church-friendly home did not require the Fairfax County Board of Zoning Appeals to examine the constitutionality of the search.

Reversing the judgment of the Virginia Court of Appeals, the state Supreme Court ruled that the Fourth Amendment’s exclusionary rule does not apply in civil cases and found that the New World Church of the Christ President Rita M. Leach-Lewis operated home offices in violation of local zoning regulations.