Imagine youre driving a car, and a police officer spots you and pulls you over for speeding. He orders you out of the car. Maybe he wants to place you under arrest. Or maybe he wants to search your car for evidence of a crime. Can the officer do that?
The Fourth Amendment is the part of the Constitution that gives the answer. According to the Fourth Amendment, the people have a right to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures. This right limits the power of the police to seize and search people, their property, and their homes.
The Fourth Amendment has been debated frequently during the last several years, as police and intelligence agencies in the United States have engaged in a number of controversial activities. The federal government has conducted bulk collection of Americans telephone and Internet connections as part of the War on Terror. Many municipal police forces have engaged in aggressive use of stop and frisk. There have been a number of highly-publicized police-citizen encounters in which the police ended up shooting a civilian. There is also concern about the use of aerial surveillance, whether by piloted aircraft or drones.
The application of the Fourth Amendment to all these activities would have surprised those who drafted it, and not only because they could not imagine the modern technologies like the Internet and drones. They also were not familiar with organized police forces like we have today. Policing in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries was a responsibility of the citizenry, which participated in night watches. Other than that, there was only a loose collection of sheriffs and constables, who lacked the tools to maintain order as the police do today.
The primary concerns of the generation that ratified the Fourth Amendment were general warrants and writs of assistance. Famous incidents on both sides of the Atlantic gave rise to placing the Fourth Amendment in the Constitution. In Britain, the Crown employed general warrants to go after political enemies, leading to the famous decisions in Wilkes v. Wood (1763) and Entick v. Carrington (1765). General warrants allowed the Crowns messengers to search without any cause to believe someone had committed an offense. In those cases the judges decided that such warrants violated English common law. In the colonies the Crown used the writs of assistancelike general warrants, but often unbounded by time restraintsto search for goods on which taxes had not been paid. James Otis challenged the writs in a Boston court; though he lost, some such as John Adams attribute this legal battle as the spark that led to the Revolution. Both controversies led to the famous notion that a persons home is their castle, not easily invaded by the government.
Today the Fourth Amendment is understood as placing restraints on the government any time it detains (seizes) or searches a person or property. The Fourth Amendment also provides that no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized. The idea is that to avoid the evils of general warrants, each search or seizure should be cleared in advance by a judge, and that to get a warrant the government must show probable causea certain level of suspicion of criminal activityto justify the search or seizure.
To the extent that a warrant is required in theory before police can search, there are so many exceptions that in practice warrants rarely are obtained. Police can search automobiles without warrants, they can detain people on the street without them, and they can always search or seize in an emergency without going to a judge.
The way that the Fourth Amendment most commonly is put into practice is in criminal proceedings. The Supreme Court decided in the mid-twentieth century that if the police seize evidence as part of an illegal search, the evidence cannot be admitted into court. This is called the exclusionary rule. It is controversial because in most cases evidence is being tossed out even though it shows the person is guilty and, as a result of the police conduct, they might avoid conviction. The criminal is to go free because the constable has blundered, declared Benjamin Cardozo (a famous judge and ultimately Supreme Court justice). But, responded another Supreme Court justice, Louis Brandeis, If the government becomes the lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for the law.
One of the difficult questions today is what constitutes a search? If the police standing in Times Square in New York watched a person planting a bomb in plain daylight, we would not think they needed a warrant or any cause. But what about installing closed circuit TV cameras on poles, or flying drones over backyards, or gathering evidence that you have given to a third party such as an Internet provider or a banker?
Another hard question is when a search is acceptable when the government has no suspicion that a person has done something wrong. Lest the answer seem to be never, think of airport security. Surely it is okay for the government to screen people getting on airplanes, yet the idea is as much to deter people from bringing weapons as it is to catch themthere is no cause, probable or otherwise, to think anyone has done anything wrong. This is the same sort of issue with bulk data collection, and possibly with gathering biometric information.
What should be clear by now is that advancing technology and the many threats that face society add up to a brew in which the Fourth Amendment will continue to play a central role.
Visit link:
Interpretation: The Fourth Amendment | Constitution Center
- Protections for e-data clear Senate committee [Last Updated On: April 26th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 26th, 2014]
- Quinn: Supreme Court should clarify Fourth Amendment rights in the digital age [Last Updated On: April 26th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 26th, 2014]
- Fourth amendment | Wex Legal Dictionary / Encyclopedia ... [Last Updated On: April 26th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 26th, 2014]
- Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution ... [Last Updated On: April 26th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 26th, 2014]
- The Fourth Amendment is destroyed by the Roberts led Supreme Court. - Video [Last Updated On: April 26th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 26th, 2014]
- Court may let cops search smartphones [Last Updated On: April 28th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 28th, 2014]
- Supreme Court to hear case on police searches of cellphones [Last Updated On: April 28th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 28th, 2014]
- Fourth Amendment in the digital age: Supreme Court to decide if police can search cellphones without a warrant [Last Updated On: April 30th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 30th, 2014]
- What Scalia knows about illegal searches [Last Updated On: April 30th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 30th, 2014]
- Should police be allowed to search your smartphone - Video [Last Updated On: April 30th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 30th, 2014]
- Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution - Video [Last Updated On: May 1st, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 1st, 2014]
- Rand Paul Third Party Records Should Get Fourth Amendment Protection O'Reilly Factor 6 11 2013 - Video [Last Updated On: May 1st, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 1st, 2014]
- The Shaky Legal Foundation of NSA Surveillance on Americans [Last Updated On: May 2nd, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 2nd, 2014]
- Pennsylvania Supreme Court rules police don't need warrants to search cars [Last Updated On: May 3rd, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 3rd, 2014]
- Local police: Updated vehicle-search law still requires probable cause [Last Updated On: May 3rd, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 3rd, 2014]
- Liberal Supreme Court Justice Comes To The Defense Of Scalia [Last Updated On: May 3rd, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 3rd, 2014]
- Gerald Celente - Trends In The News - America's Spiritual Death - (1/20/14) - Video [Last Updated On: May 4th, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 4th, 2014]
- Smartphones and the Fourth Amendment - Video [Last Updated On: May 4th, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 4th, 2014]
- Fourth Amendment Searches And Seizures - Video [Last Updated On: May 5th, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 5th, 2014]
- Fourth Amendment Defined & Explained - Law [Last Updated On: May 6th, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 6th, 2014]
- Enforcement Techniques For Violations Of The Fourth Amendment - Video [Last Updated On: May 6th, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 6th, 2014]
- I-Team: Do police seek search warrant friendly judges? [Last Updated On: May 7th, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 7th, 2014]
- Is Big Brother Listening? Applying the Fourth Amendment in an Electronic Age - Video [Last Updated On: May 9th, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 9th, 2014]
- It Costs Less to Care [Last Updated On: May 10th, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 10th, 2014]
- The Fourth Amendment - Video [Last Updated On: May 10th, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 10th, 2014]
- Magistrate waxes poetic while rejecting Gmail search request [Last Updated On: May 11th, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 11th, 2014]
- License reader lawsuit can be heard, appeals court rules [Last Updated On: May 15th, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 15th, 2014]
- Seize the Rojo - Video [Last Updated On: May 16th, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 16th, 2014]
- NSA Spying Has a Disproportionate Effect on Immigrants [Last Updated On: May 17th, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 17th, 2014]
- Motorists sue Aurora, police in 2012 traffic stop after bank robbery [Last Updated On: May 17th, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 17th, 2014]
- Judge Says NSA Phone Surveillance Likely Unconstitutional - Video [Last Updated On: May 21st, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 21st, 2014]
- New York Attorney Heath D. Harte Releases a Statement on Fourth Amendment Rights [Last Updated On: May 22nd, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 22nd, 2014]
- Bangor Area School District teachers vote no to random drug [Last Updated On: May 24th, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 24th, 2014]
- The Fourth Amendment Rights - Video [Last Updated On: May 24th, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 24th, 2014]
- I Don't Care About The Contitution, Take Your Fourth Amendment And Shove It The Hills Hotel - Video [Last Updated On: May 27th, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 27th, 2014]
- Lonestar1776 at Illegal Checkpoint 80 Miles Inside Border - Standing UP & Pushing Back! pt 2/2 - Video [Last Updated On: September 1st, 2014] [Originally Added On: September 1st, 2014]
- Suit charges Daytona Beach's rental inspection program violates civil rights [Last Updated On: September 2nd, 2014] [Originally Added On: September 2nd, 2014]
- 4th Amendment - Laws.com [Last Updated On: September 6th, 2014] [Originally Added On: September 6th, 2014]
- YOU CAN ARREST ME NOW (cops refuse) - Video [Last Updated On: September 6th, 2014] [Originally Added On: September 6th, 2014]
- The Feds Explain How They Seized The Silk Road Servers [Last Updated On: September 8th, 2014] [Originally Added On: September 8th, 2014]
- Defence asks judge in NYC to toss out bulk of evidence in Silk Road case as illegally obtained [Last Updated On: September 9th, 2014] [Originally Added On: September 9th, 2014]
- Volokh Conspiracy: Does obtaining leaked data from a misconfigured website violate the CFAA? [Last Updated On: September 9th, 2014] [Originally Added On: September 9th, 2014]
- Family of a mentally ill woman files lawsuit against San Mateo Co. after deadly shooting [Last Updated On: September 10th, 2014] [Originally Added On: September 10th, 2014]
- Minnesota Supreme Court upholds airport drug case decision [Last Updated On: September 12th, 2014] [Originally Added On: September 12th, 2014]
- Law Talk - Obamacare Rollout; Fourth Amendment, NSA Spying Stop & Frisk DUI Check Points lta041 - Video [Last Updated On: September 12th, 2014] [Originally Added On: September 12th, 2014]
- Volokh Conspiracy: The posse comitatus case and changing views of the exclusionary rule [Last Updated On: September 15th, 2014] [Originally Added On: September 15th, 2014]
- Guest: Why the privacy of a public employees cellphone matters [Last Updated On: September 16th, 2014] [Originally Added On: September 16th, 2014]
- Volokh Conspiracy: Apples dangerous game [Last Updated On: September 19th, 2014] [Originally Added On: September 19th, 2014]
- Judge expounds on privacy rights [Last Updated On: September 20th, 2014] [Originally Added On: September 20th, 2014]
- Great privacy essay: Fourth Amendment Doctrine in the Era of Total Surveillance [Last Updated On: September 20th, 2014] [Originally Added On: September 20th, 2014]
- The Fourth Amendment By Maison Erdman - Video [Last Updated On: September 20th, 2014] [Originally Added On: September 20th, 2014]
- Volokh Conspiracy: When administrative inspections of businesses turn into massive armed police raids [Last Updated On: September 22nd, 2014] [Originally Added On: September 22nd, 2014]
- The chilling loophole that lets police stop, question and search you for no good reason [Last Updated On: September 23rd, 2014] [Originally Added On: September 23rd, 2014]
- E.O. 12333: End-Running the Fourth Amendment | The Dissenter [Last Updated On: September 25th, 2014] [Originally Added On: September 25th, 2014]
- Fourth Amendment: The History Behind "Unreasonable ... [Last Updated On: September 25th, 2014] [Originally Added On: September 25th, 2014]
- Pet Owners Look to Muzzle Police Who Shoot Dogs [Last Updated On: September 27th, 2014] [Originally Added On: September 27th, 2014]
- Volokh Conspiracy: A few thoughts on Heien v. North Carolina [Last Updated On: September 29th, 2014] [Originally Added On: September 29th, 2014]
- Volokh Conspiracy: Third Circuit on the mosaic theory and Smith v. Maryland [Last Updated On: October 1st, 2014] [Originally Added On: October 1st, 2014]
- Volokh Conspiracy: Third Circuit gives narrow reading to exclusionary rule [Last Updated On: October 2nd, 2014] [Originally Added On: October 2nd, 2014]
- Volokh Conspiracy: Supreme Court takes case on duration of traffic stops [Last Updated On: October 2nd, 2014] [Originally Added On: October 2nd, 2014]
- Search & Seizure, Racial Bias: The American Law Journal on the Philadelphia CNN-News Affiliate WFMZ Monday, October 6 ... [Last Updated On: October 4th, 2014] [Originally Added On: October 4th, 2014]
- Argument preview: How many brake lights need to be working on your car? [Last Updated On: October 4th, 2014] [Originally Added On: October 4th, 2014]
- The 'Barney Fife Loophole' to the Fourth Amendment [Last Updated On: October 4th, 2014] [Originally Added On: October 4th, 2014]
- Search & Seizure: A New Fourth Amendment for a New Generation? - Promo - Video [Last Updated On: October 4th, 2014] [Originally Added On: October 4th, 2014]
- Lubbock Liberty Workshop With Arnold Loewy On The Fourth Amendment - Video [Last Updated On: October 5th, 2014] [Originally Added On: October 5th, 2014]
- Ap Government Fourth Amendment Project - Video [Last Updated On: October 5th, 2014] [Originally Added On: October 5th, 2014]
- Volokh Conspiracy: Oral argument in Heien v. North Carolina [Last Updated On: October 6th, 2014] [Originally Added On: October 6th, 2014]
- Feds Hacked Silk Road Without a Warrant? Perfectly Legal, Prosecutors Argue [Last Updated On: October 7th, 2014] [Originally Added On: October 7th, 2014]
- Supreme Court Starts Term with Fourth Amendment Case [Last Updated On: October 7th, 2014] [Originally Added On: October 7th, 2014]
- Feds Say That Even If FBI Hacked The Silk Road, Ulbricht's Rights Weren't Violated [Last Updated On: October 8th, 2014] [Originally Added On: October 8th, 2014]
- Argument analysis: A simple answer to a deceptively simple Fourth Amendment question? [Last Updated On: October 8th, 2014] [Originally Added On: October 8th, 2014]
- Mass Collection of U.S. Phone Records Violates the Fourth Amendment - Video [Last Updated On: October 8th, 2014] [Originally Added On: October 8th, 2014]
- Leggett sides with civil liberties supporters [Last Updated On: October 10th, 2014] [Originally Added On: October 10th, 2014]
- Search & Seizure / Car Stops: A 'New' Fourth Amendment for a New Generation? - Video [Last Updated On: October 10th, 2014] [Originally Added On: October 10th, 2014]
- Broken Lights And The Fourth Amendment National Constitution Center - Video [Last Updated On: October 10th, 2014] [Originally Added On: October 10th, 2014]
- The Fourth Amendment- The Maininator Period 4 - Video [Last Updated On: October 10th, 2014] [Originally Added On: October 10th, 2014]
- Judge nukes Ulbricht's complaint about WARRANTLESS FBI Silk Road server raid [Last Updated On: October 11th, 2014] [Originally Added On: October 11th, 2014]
- Montgomery County will not hold immigrants without probable cause -- Gazette.Net [Last Updated On: October 13th, 2014] [Originally Added On: October 13th, 2014]
- Debate: Does Mass Phone Data Collection Violate The 4th Amendment? [Last Updated On: October 15th, 2014] [Originally Added On: October 15th, 2014]
- Does the mass collection of phone records violate the Fourth Amendment? [Last Updated On: October 18th, 2014] [Originally Added On: October 18th, 2014]