The Fourth Amendment And Warrants - 1710 Words

The Fourth Amendment and Warrants The US Bill of Rights, written to limit government power in response to the tyranny of England on the colonies, gave birth to the first 10 amendments to the Constitution. The fourth amendment, contained within the Bill of Rights, will be the principle subject in this research paper. Swanson, Chamelin, Territo and Taylor (2012), noted the Constitution’s fourth amendment stated the following: 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†¦show more content†¦The courts would further recognize exceptions to warrant requirements which also granted legal authority to search and seize without a warrant. The following paper discusses the importance of the fourth amendment in regard to legal search and seizures by obtaining legal warrants and the impact the amendment has had on court cases. The warrant As noted by Swanson et al. (2012), search warrants are legally obtained court documents which direct police to search for specific property at a specific place. Law enforcement personnel must apply for a warrant by providing the courts an affidavit. This affidavit outlines the facts that a crime has occurred or will occur leading the officer to have reasonable suspicion and/or probable cause to believe the person, items or place they are to search are located at the specific place to be searched (Sekhom, 2011). Once the judge signs off on the validity of the affidavit he or she can issue a warrant allowing law enforcement to execute the requirements of the warrant. It is important to note that the warrant itself cannot be used to establish probable cause (Swanson et al., 2012). To curb injustices, law enforcement officers must establish probable cause or have reasonable suspicion that a crime occurred. If additional items are found within the scope of a valid search warrant exe cution, officers must then re-apply for a new