Legal Searches and the Fourth Amendment essays

Legal Searches and the Fourth Amendment essays As a response to the intrusive presence of the British forces of occupation before the American Revolution, the framers of the United States Constitution took care to be sure that any indigenous government would be permanently enjoined from imposing itself in unwarranted ways on the citizenry. "Using a Writ of Assistance, British customs officials were able to enter any home and search the premises for evidence of customs violations" (Robinson, 2004) in the years before the Revolution. The protective amendment to the Constitution written by the colonists has been a linchpin of the personal freedom Americans have enjoyed ever since. That protection was embodied in the Fourth Amendment, commonly referred to as the search and seizures' amendment. It guarantees: 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. (U.S. Constitution, Fourth In short, no one can go on a fishing expedition' to see if an American is doing something unlawful; the authorities must have probable cause.' Like every significant phrase in the Constitutionand which of them is not significant'this phrase has been interpreted through the years by various courts, including the Supreme Court, of course. Generally, probable cause' is understood to mean some better reason than "He's a mean person," or "Her grandmother was a thief, so." Arguablyand it will be argued laterinterpretations through the centuries have been fairly strict. The cause had, in short, better be a darn...