The following was originally published September 26, 2012 at http://teach51.blogspot.com/2012/09/founders-dismay.html
Have you ever wondered what our country's founders would think about the current state of our Fourth Amendment law?
What were they thinking about when they protected our rights to be secure in our "persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures"? When they added the warrant requirement, did they contemplate a time in the future when there would be countless exceptions to the warrant requirement? Did they anticipate "harmless error" and "good faith" court rulings? Did they think about a future in which automobiles would be a mode of transportation and in which "exigent circumstances" would enable searches without warrants?
Could they have anticipated "inventory searches," "plain view," "abandoned property," "hot pursuit," "booking searches," and "search incident to arrest"?
If they could speak to us now, what would they say to us about the state of our Fourth Amendment law? Would they be dismayed?
The following was originally published September 26, 2012 at http://teach51.blogspot.com/2012/09/founders-dismay.html
Have you ever wondered what our country's founders would think about the current state of our Fourth Amendment law?
What were they thinking about when they protected our rights to be secure in our "persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures"? When they added the warrant requirement, did they contemplate a time in the future when there would be countless exceptions to the warrant requirement? Did they anticipate "harmless error" and "good faith" court rulings? Did they think about a future in which automobiles would be a mode of transportation and in which "exigent circumstances" would enable searches without warrants?
Could they have anticipated "inventory searches," "plain view," "abandoned property," "hot pursuit," "booking searches," and "search incident to arrest"?
If they could speak to us now, what would they say to us about the state of our Fourth Amendment law? Would they be dismayed?