This paper focuses on the Fourth Amendment and the Fifth Amendment cases of the Supreme court and the exclusionary rule. The first case was an issue with the Fourth Amendment, Whren v. United States. On June 10, 1993, several plainclothes police officers in unmarked cars were patrolling in a high drug area in Washington D.C.. for illegal drug activity (Hall, 1996). When observing a pathfinder at a stop sign with temporary tags remaining at the stop sign for an extended period blocking the vehicles that had stopped behind them (Hall, 1996). When officers decided to drive the opposite direction, they observed the driver in the pathfinder staring over in the lap of the passenger to the right officers had made a U-turn with the intention to follow the pathfinder when its driver made a right-hand turn without signaling and drove down a street at an unreasonable speed (Hall, 1996). One officer got out of the unmarked police car walked up to the Pathfinder on the driver’s side observing the passenger Whren holding a plastic bag in each hand appearing to look like cocaine base, officer yelled “CSA” to advise partner of a possibility of a violation of a Controlled Substance Act, having Whren yell “pull off! pull off and saw him taking the cover off the power window control panel and placed one of the bages inside the hidden compartment (Hall, 1996). The officer immediately dove across the driver and seized the second bag from
Citizens are protected by two constitutional amendments, under the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, any search of a person or his premises (including a vehicle), and any seizure of tangible evidence, must be reasonable.
The Fourth Amendment protects citizens from unreasonable search and seizures. (People v. Williams 20 Cal.4th 125.) A defendant may move to suppress as evidence any tangible or intangible thing obtained as a result of an unreasonable search and seizure without a warrant. (Penal Code §1538.5(a)(1)(A).) Warrantless searches and seizures are presumptively unreasonable. (Williams, supra, 20 Cal.4th 119; see also Minnesota v. Dickerson (1993) 508 U.S. 366 (stating searches and seizures conducted outside the judicial process are per se unreasonable unless subject to an established exception).) While the defendant has the initial burden of raising the warrantless search issue before the court, this burden is satisfied when the defendant asserts the absence of a warrant and makes a prima facie case in support. (Williams, supra, 20 Cal.4th 130.) Accordingly, when the prosecution seeks to introduce evidence seized during a warrantless search, they also bear the burden in showing that an exception to the warrant applies. (Mincey v. Arizona (1978) 98 S.Ct. 2408; see also People v. James (1977) 19 Cal.3d 99.) Evidence obtained as a result of an unlawful search and seizure is considered “fruit of the poisonous tree” and should be suppressed. (Wong Sun v. United States (1963) 371 U.S. 471; see also Minnesota v. Dickerson (1993) 508 U.S. 372 (stating unreasonable searches are invalid under Terry and should be suppressed).)
This case mainly deals with the interpretation of our Constitution’s Fourth Amendment, which protects us from unlawful search and seizures. What we can learn from this case are: the differences in court systems, the elements that comprise the Fourth Amendment, and the controversies surrounding it. The text relevant to this case can be found within the first six chapters of our textbook, with an emphasis on Chapter 6 “Criminal Law and Business”.
The Fourth Amendment of the Constitution was ratified in 1791 and is an important amendment in the Bill of Rights. The Fourth Amendment is “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” (Charles Wetterer). The issue of searching and seizing first originated in Britain in the mid-1700’s where British officers had general warrants to search citizens. While this became an issue for citizens in Britain, it became apparent also in the colonies where British soldiers were searching with only general warrants. Many citizens believed it was an invasion of privacy. So after independence from Britain, and the failure of the Articles of Confederation, the Constitution was produced. George Mason, an important political figure in Virginia, had written the Virginia Declaration of Rights, and he and other delegates believed the primary purpose of the government was to protect the rights of its citizens. To further that, he believed citizens had the right to be secure from unlawful searches and seizures. Once the idea of the Bill of Rights came into play, the Fourth Amendment was also created. The Fourth Amendment actually guarantees two things: You cannot search or seize unless you have a warrant and a
Protecting American citizens from unreasonable searches and seizures is the central idea of the Fourth Amendment; however, the Fourth Amendment may also apply to electronics. Classified organizations, such as, the NSA secretly collect information that includes, details of phone calls, e-mails, and personal Internet activity, although, in 2013 the NSA’s secret was revealed to the public, since it was not publicly known that the NSA had been collecting bulk phone data. The NSA later tried to defend itself and state that it doesn’t mean that they collect all personal records, such as, medical records and library records. In order for the NSA to legally store phone data the agency must first receive a warrant from the FISA Court each time it wants
Fourth Amendment protects people from unreasonable searches and seizures of certain papers, books, documents etc. Rules are not violated in it. There must be probable reason because in order to arrest a particular person without a search warrant. It possesses an oath or affirmation from the government. It has two fundamental rights as Right to privacy and Right to freedom. Search occurs when it has a correct reason that was obligated by the government people. Private individuals are violated from this amendment. A seizure happens the owner must has a right documents with him on his own property, if not the documents is seized and the person gets arrested. Sometimes the property belongs to other possessor but in mistake reasonable person gets involved in the task. The banning of unreasonable searches can violate many things to be happen.
• Fourth Amendment jurisprudence is primarily concentrated in four areas: 1) defining “searches”; 2) the Warrant Requirement, in which warrantless searches are semantically precluded except in specific and tightly constricted situations; 3) the Probable Cause Requirement, whose exclusive provisions are closely associated with the Warrant Requirement’s proscription of police inquiries into same; and, 4) the exclusionary rule, which presumptively excludes any information or evidence gathered in violation of the preceding two (Rickless, 2005).
The fourth amendment was created to protect the individual rights form governmental intrusion. The fourth amendment protects the right of the people to be secure against unreasonable searches and seizures. This shall not be violated and no warrants shall issue unless it is upon probable cause. It was established on December 15, 1791 during the colonial era. When the 4th Amendment became part of the Constitution, it was originally only applied to the federal government. Then it was applied to the states through the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment. The fourth amendment is so important to American, because it is the natural right of the people and the protection from intrusion. Now in society many people do not understand that the
1. The Fourth Amendment of the U.S Constitution says, “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.”
The 4th amendment, search and seizure causes a lot of problems. Search and Seizure is the rights that police have when they enter in a home. The standard for conducting a warrantless search, probable cause, is the same standard necessary for a warrant to issue. An illegal search or illegal seizure is a violation of your Fourth Amendment rights, and any evidence seized must be excluded from trial. Normally police need a search warrant to enter into a home unless they get the consent to enter in the home without one they normally don't go go into a home without anything. A terry pat is when a police officer can detain or conduct a reasonable search for weapons where the officer has the reason to believe the person is armed. Auto stops is
The Fourth Amendment is part of the Bill of Rights which was established in the seventeenth and eighteenth century English common law. Aside from the rest of the amendments in the Bill of Rights the Fourth Amendment can be traced back to a strong public reaction from some cases back in the 1760s. Two of these cases happened in England and one case happened in the colonies. These cases involved some pamphleteers who would pass out pamphlets to the public in order to spread their word around. These pamphlets however ridiculed the king and his ministers. After finding this out the king issued warrants to have the pamphleteer’s homes ransacked and stripped of all their books and papers. Even back then the pamphleteers knew that their rights
One of the most famous cases that influenced the Fourth Amendment was that of Entick v. Carrington. This was only one of many civil cases against officials who raided people’s homes and other places in search of materials connected with John Wilkes' political pamphlets that attack both the government and the King. Mr. Entick, who was an associate of John Wilkes, sued because agents had entered his house forcefully and broken into desks and boxes that were locked. They then seized pamphlets, charts, and other printed materials. The courts decided the warrant gave the officials the right to search and seizure and the ability to issue a warrant for all a person's papers rather than only those accused of being criminal ''contrary to the genius of the law of England.'' The warrant was said to be invalid because it had no probable cause and no record was made of what had been seized. The Supreme Court has said this case is a guide to understanding what the Framers meant when writing the Fourth Amendment.
The Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution applies to a person and their home by providing protection against unreasonable seizures and searches. While it provides protection, not every search and seizure can be deemed unreasonable unless it is classified as per the law, by determining whether there was: a) the level of intrusion of the individuals Fourth Amendment, and b) whether or not it pertains to the government’s interest, such as safety of the public.
More than a century since the Fourth Amendment, its value was hardly recognizable by the criminal defendants since evidences seized by law enforcement in violation of warrant and probable cause requirements was justifiable during the defendant prosecution. The penalty for improperly search and seizure that the evidence is obtain will be excluded from the court case, better known as the exclusionary rule. Between the dawn and the intermediate of the 20th century, the exclusionary rule obstruct illegal seized evidence from the federal courts, all of sudden, in 1961 the well-known case that revolves around the exclusionary rule, Mapp v. Ohio, was applied to state courts and as a result, federal supervision under states’ search and seizure guideline
The Fourth Amendment is a difficult one especially when it comes to the safety of people and the different perceptions individuals have, how much proof is acceptable before the authorities decide if there’s probable cause? I found it interesting the loophole the government has being able to collect data on every person which I’m not against especially in this horrible scary world we’re living in currently ("Fourth Amendment | Wex Legal Dictionary / Encyclopedia | LII / Legal Information Institute," n.d.). After reading all the requirements and exclusions of the Fourth Amendment it seems that reasonable doubt is very subjective.