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What is the Fourth Amendment? The Fourth Amendment is among the first ten amendments that make up "The Bill of Rights". Its meaning is to protect against arbitrary arrests, and is the law regarding search warrants, stop-and-frisk, safety inspections, wiretaps, and other forms of surveillance.
The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution, states that it is the right of all the people of the United States, citizens and undocumented immigrants, to be protected against violation of their person, their home, or any possession, against unreasonable search and seizures, and states that a warrant will only be issued when probable cause exists. If probable cause can be proven, persons or things can be seized.
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The ultimate goal of the Fourth Amendment is to protect a citizen's right to privacy. The amendment does not protect against all search and seizures, just ones that are unjustified by a court of law.
The Fourth Amendment is also known as the, search and seizure amendment. A search warrant --an order a judge must sign to give permission for authorities to search--must be issued, on most occasions, before a search or seizure can legally take place. There are some situations where a warrantless search and seizure may occur.
Reasons for Warrantless Search and Seizure
The following terms and concepts are important to search and seizure laws.
| Fourth Amendment Terms and Concepts | |
| expectation of privacy | People have the expectation of privacy in their own homes, vehicles, places of work, journals, telephone conversations, letters, and anything that requires a password to access. |
| probable cause | Is determined by courts to mean reasonable suspicion that a crime has taken place, or that evidence of a crime is imminent. |
| warrants | A search warrant is authorization to search a specific area for evidence of a specific crime. |
| reasonable suspicion | This is used in determining if an officer had the authority to perform a warrantless search. |
| stop & frisk | Is a brief non-intrusive police stop and search of a suspect. |
| plain view | An officer can seize an item without a warrant if he observes the object in plain view. |
| open field | Areas such as pastures, wooded areas open water, and vacant lots do not need to comply with the requirements of warrants and probable cause. |
An example of when reasonable suspicion and plain view search and seizure can legally take place is the following example:
An officer has a warrant to search a property to look for stolen goods of a convicted armed robber. He had reasonable suspicion that the stolen goods were at this property. He did not find the stolen goods, but did find the weapon used in the robbery in plain sight. He was able to lawfully seize the weapon under the plain view doctrine, even though his warrant did not specifically state any weapons.
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Try it nowThe following are Fourth Amendment examples that describe the role that court decisions have played in shaping the meaning of The Bill of Rights, Fourth Amendment:
In the case of Kyllo v. United States, a Department of the Interior agent used a heat imaging device to scan the exterior of Danny Kyllo's home. He had reasonable suspicion that Kyllo was using indoor heat lamps to grow marijuana. When his test showed that there were, in fact, areas of his home radiating more heat than others, he took that information, in addition to increased utility bills, to a judge and received a warrant to search Kyllo's home. In the search, the officer found where Kyllo was growing marijuana indoors. Kyllo was indicted on a federal drug charge. Kyllo's lawyer appealed the charge, stating that the heat imaging scan of Kello's home broke his Fourth Amendment rights. The court determined that the use of the heat imaging was unlawful since it was not something anyone in public could obtain. Without the results for the heat scan, the warrant issued was determined unjustifiable.
Theodore Payton was suspected by officials for murdering a gas station manager. They entered Payton's home to arrest him, but he was not home. They did, however, find evidence connecting Payton to the crime. They introduced the evidence found at Payton's trial. The entry and seizure of property was done without a warrant.
However, they were acting under a New York statute that permitted entry of a private residence for a Federal arrest without a warrant. Payton tried to get evidence thrown out of court claiming his Fourth Amendment rights had been revoked. He was unsuccessful, but since this case, the Supreme Court ruled that this New York statue is no longer permissible for violation of the Fourth Amendment.
TLO was a 14 year old, she was accused of smoking at her high school. She denied smoking, and the principal took her purse and went through its contents. While looking in her purse, in addition to a pack of cigarettes, he also discovered drug paraphernalia and other incriminating evidence of drug use. TLO's lawyer tried to get the evidence thrown out due to it violating her Fourth Amendment right to privacy and the principal did not have the authority to search her purse. This was denied at state level and when taken to the Supreme Court, was also denied.
Why is the Fourth Amendment important? The amendment is important because it protects a person's rights to have personal privacy and their right to be free from unreasonable government invasion of their property.
The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution, states that it is the right of all the people of the United States, citizens and undocumented immigrants, to be protected against violation of their person, their home, or any possession, against unreasonable search and seizures, and states that a warrant will only be issued when probable cause exists. If probable cause can be proven, persons or things can be seized.
The Fourth Amendment is also known as the search and seizure amendment. A warrant must be issued on most occasions before a search or seizure can legally take place. There are some situations where a warrantless search and seizure may occur.
The following terms and concepts are important to search and seizure laws.
| Fourth Amendment Terms and Concepts | |
| expectation of privacy | People have the expectation of privacy in their own homes, vehicles, places of work, journals, telephone conversations, letters, and anything that requires a password to access. |
| probable cause | Is determined by courts to mean reasonable suspicion that a crime has taken place, or that evidence of a crime is imminent. |
| warrants | A search warrant is authorization to search a specific area for evidence of a specific crime. |
| reasonable suspicion | This is used in determining if an officer had the authority to perform a warrantless search. |
| stop & frisk | Is a brief non-intrusive police stop and search of a suspect. |
| plain view | An officer can seize an item without a warrant if he observes the object in plain view. |
The amendment is important because it protects a person's rights to have personal privacy and their right to be free from unreasonable government invasion of their property.
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The 4th Amendment is used today to provide United States citizens with a right to privacy. There are some lawful unwarranted searches; however, most searches of personal property require due cause and a warrant.
Violations to the 4th Amendment are when a victim can prove their right to privacy has been violated. A person who feels like their 4th Amendment has been violated can file a Bivens Action against the law enforcement of the state where the violation took place.
The 4th Amendment in simple terms is the search and seizure amendment. The amendment states basically that a warrant must be obtained before a lawful search and seizure of a person's private property can be obtained.
A person who is suspected of a Federal crime is not protected by the 4th Amendment. Also, any person who willingly volunteers to consent to a search without a warrant would not be protected by the amendment.
The 4th Amendment was ratified in 1791. It is said to have been drawn from experiences the Colonial Americans had faced when living in England.
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