Paper Topic:

The Fourth Amendment Constitutional protection against unreasonable search and seizure tracing the relevant key U.S. Supreme Court decisions

The Fourth Amendment

Tracing Relevant Key

Supreme Court Decisions

Legal Environment of Business (Insert Name (Insert Telephone Number

2006

Table of Contents

TOC \o "1-3 " \h \z \u HYPERLINK \l "_Toc0 " Introduction PAGEREF _Toc0 \h 3

HYPERLINK \l "_Toc1 " Evolution of the Meaning of Search and Seizure PAGEREF _Toc1 \h 4

HYPERLINK \l "_Toc2 " Exceptions to Fourth Amendment Protection PAGEREF _Toc2 \h 5

HYPERLINK \l "_Toc3 " Conclusion PAGEREF _Toc3 \h 8 HYPERLINK \l "_Toc4 " Table of References PAGEREF _Toc4 \h 9

HYPERLINK \l "_Toc5 " Articles PAGEREF

_Toc5 \h 9

HYPERLINK \l "_Toc6 " Periodicals PAGEREF _Toc6 \h 9

HYPERLINK \l "_Toc7 " Case Law PAGEREF _Toc7 \h 9

Introduction

The Fourth Amendment is one of the most cherished provisions in our Bill of Rights . The constitutional guaranty regarding searches and seizures protect all persons regardless of status or condition . This guaranty applies only to the government and prevents the government form arbitrarily disrupting the autonomy and privacy of the people . To this end , the guaranty mandates that searches and seizures must be reasonable and judicial warrants must be supported by probable cause

The Fourth Amendment was originally designed as a response to widespread invasions of privacy experienced by colonists . These were done under British rule through writs of assistance ' which allowed government officers to search any person or place without any temporal limit as to its applicability . The Fourth Amendment 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

To gain a better understanding of this constitutionally protected right against searches and seizures , it is important to discuss judicial decisions of the United States Supreme Court that have figured in evolution of the Fourth Amendment . This will outline the relevant key decisions that have helped shape this rule

Evolution of the Meaning of Search and Seizure

In the beginning , all evidence , no matter how seized , could be admitted in court even if it was illegally obtained . The decision of the Supreme Court in Weeks v . United States ( HYPERLINK "http /en .wikipedia .org /wiki /1914 " \o "1914 " 1914 ) changed this line of thinking . Weeks 's business address was searched without a valid search warrant and revealed that Weeks was using United States mail to send lottery tickets , which was a federal offense . Emboldened by the evidence thus found , Weeks 's home was searched twice without a warrant and various s were seized . Weeks then d suit to recover the same . The Court unanimously ruled that evidence illegally procured by a federal officer could not be presented before federal courts and ed the return of the property . This rule was later expanded in Mapp vs Ohio (1961 . Mapp was said to have violated Ohio law with her possession of obscene material , which was seized from her without warrant when police invaded her home searching for a bombing fugitive . The Court decreed that evidence illegally obtained in violation of the Fourth Amendment...

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