By NCC Staff
As part of the National Constitution Center’s 27 Amendments (In 27 Days)
project, each day we will look at a constitutional amendment. Through
partnerships with leading scholars and universities, government
agencies, media outlets, and more, the National Constitution Center will
profile one amendment each day throughout the month of February.
Photo via Bruce Bortin/Flickr
Today, we look at an amendment
that is seemingly in the news daily: the Fourth Amendment, which
protects people from unreasonable searches and seizures.
Full Text of the Fourth Amendment
The right of the people to be
secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against
unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and 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.
Synopsis:
Applying to arrests and to
searches of persons, homes, and other private places, this amendment
requires a warrant, thereby placing a neutral magistrate between the
police and the citizen. Source: U.S. Senate
Explanation:
This amendment protects the
people’s right to be secure in our “persons, houses, papers, and
effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures” by the government.
The Framers of the Constitution were especially concerned about “general
warrants” which authorized broad searches of innocent citizens private
papers without “particularly describing the place to be searched, and
the person or things to be seized.”
Today, an unreasonable search or
seizure can involve a clear violation of private property rights, like
the police entering someone’s home without a warrant supported by
probable cause of wrongdoing, or can be subtler, like a police officer
using a thermal imaging device to reveal excessive amounts of heat being
generated inside a house.
Resources:
1. The Library of Congress Constitution Annotated. Contains a detailed history of the amendment, along with past and recent court cases.
2. Cornell Legal Information Institute. Includes information from Wex, a free legal dictionary and encyclopedia sponsored and hosted by the Legal Information Institute at the Cornell Law School. Wex entries are collaboratively created and edited by legal experts.
3. U.S. Courts website.
This resource allows you to understand what Supreme Court decisions
clarify reasonable search and seizure, apply the precedents, and see
examples.