Warrant Requirement

Open Fields Doctrine

One of the exceptions to the search and seizure law which enables police officers to conduct warrantless search and seizure proceedings especially in criminal cases , is the Open Fields Doctrine . Under this doctrine , the owner of any object found out of doors where it could be plainly seen by anybody who is standing on his or her foot , from inside any motor vehicle , or from a low-flying aircraft , could not seek the privacy protection under the Fourth Amendment . In other words , even if a residential unit is protected by

a fence , the ground inside the fence is still considered an open field ' if there are cracks in the fence through which anybody can easily peep and see objects located inside the fence . The same is true when the fence is low enough for people to see clearly inside the fenced-in ground without the need to stand on their toes or on top of any object in to have a clear line of sight Considered open fields are streets , sidewalks , any bodies of water outdoor fields , or even the curtilage of a fenced-in residential building as long as said curtilage could be observed by people outside the fence . This doctrine was established by the United States Supreme Court in Hester v . United States where it ruled that the Fourth Amendment did not protect `open fields ' and that , therefore , police searches in such areas as pastures , wooded areas , open water , and vacant lots ' are legal even without search...