The Fourth

Amendment
By: Adriana, Alex, Colton, and Moccah
The Fourth Amendment came about because of the actions of
British tax collectors before the Revolutionary War. They
would use general warrants to enter and search any house they
wanted without needing evidence of wrongdoing. The
Founding Fathers wanted to protect people from this sort of
invasion of privacy from the government.
The Constitution, through the Fourth Amendment,
protects people from unreasonable searches and seizures
by the government. The Fourth Amendment, however,
is not a guarantee against all searches and seizures, but
only those that are deemed unreasonable under the law.
"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."
A "search" under the Fourth Amendment is when a public employee (like a
police officer) looks at something that is considered "private". It typically takes
two things in order for something to be considered "private":
1) the citizen thought it was private and it would not be able to be viewed by the
public (For example, something inside a house would be private, something on
the driveway could be viewed by anyone).
2) these expectations of privacy are realistic (It wouldn't be realistic to expect
something on your driveway to be private).
When someone is "seized" they are not free to leave (like
being arrested and placed in jail). When something is
"seized" it cannot be taken back (like the police taking
your wallet and not giving it back).
The Fourth Amendment also states that there must be
"probable cause." This means that there is enough evidence to
show that a crime has likely been committed. The police must
have this evidence before any arrest or search. Any evidence
found during the search does not count as probable cause.
What are the most important Supreme Court Cases
Mapp v. Ohio

Found that evidence gathered under illegal search and seizure were inadmissible in court

Katz v. U.S.

Found any conversation made with reasonable expectation of privacy is protected

Terry v. Ohio

Searches due to protecting police and other persons contributes to rulings of an officer searching suspects

Davis v. U.S.

Searches allowed if an officer is given consent to search

U.S. v. Robinson

Searches are allowed if they are incidental to a lawful arrest

Payton v. New York

Searches are allowed if they are due to probable cause

Maryland v. Macon

Seizure is allowed if the items are in plain sight

When does it protect a person or not
Does not

● The 4th Amendment only protects you from “unreasonable” searches and seizures. Hence if a search or seizure is deemed reasonable the
4th Amendment will not protect you.
● If the police have a warrant, or probable cause to believe that you committed a crime the 4th Amendment no longer applies and your
privacy may be tarnished.
● An example would be if you were spotted at a crime scene with the weapon, the police now have probable cause you committed the crime
and would have the right to get a warrant to search your home.

Does

● An example when the 4th Amendment would protect you is, say you get pulled over for speeding, the police has no probable cause you
have anything illegal in your possession however they search your car, you can say your 4th Amendment right protects you from the search.
● If a search or seizure is deemed “unreasonable” such as no evidence, warrant, or probable cause the government must protect your 4th
Amendment right and they can’t do the search or seizure.
How has the War on
The War on Drugs and the War on
Drugs and Terrorism Terrorism are times that have seen
government encroachment on the
affected our Fourth boundaries of the 4th amendment.

Amendment?
War on Drugs

● Drugs became symbols for the youth

rebellion, social upheaval, and political
dissent in the 1960s.
● Began in June 1971 with President
Richard Nixon declaring a “War on
Drugs”.
○ Pushed for more federal drugs control
agencies .
○ Policies such as mandatory sentencing
and no-knock warrants.
○ Created categorical severity of illegal
drugs.
War on Drugs

● In the 1980s President Ronald Reagan would

continue to push the War on Drugs
○ New policing tactics and searches allowed for
more arrests.
○ Incarceration of nonviolent drug offenses
increase from 50,000 in 1980 to over 400,000
in 1997.
○ Nancy Reagan would begin the anti-drug
campaign “Just Say No”.
○ Implementation of zero tolerance policy.
○ Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986.
■ Established a series of mandatory
minimums.
● Clear discrepancy of crack
cocaine and powder cocaine.
War on Drugs

The War on Drugs has allowed for unreasonable searches and seizures.

Implemented policies allowed for an increase in unwarranted searches, increased usage of

K-9 units, unreasonable searches, increased suspicion, and police/SWAT raids.

The result of the war on drugs is the pushing back of the fourth amendment rights and the
incarceration of thousands.
War on Terror

The War on Terror was a response to the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.
● Multidimensional campaign with a near limitless scope to fight terrorism against the
U.S.
○ Its military dimension included operations conducted in countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq, and Yemen.
○ Its intelligence dimension included institutional reorganization and increases in the funding of
intelligence-gathering capabilities.
○ Its diplomatic dimension included efforts to construct and maintain a global coalition of partner states
and organizations and an extensive public diplomacy campaign to counter anti-Americanism in the
Middle East.
○ The domestic dimension of the U.S. war on terrorism entailed new antiterrorism legislation, such as the
USA PATRIOT Act, new security institutions, surveillance and intelligence-gathering programs and
increased security measures.
War on Terror and the Domestic
The War on Terror enacted policies that would increase the
surveillance of U.S. citizens
● USA Patriot Act (Uniting and Strengthening America
Patriot Act)
○ Expanded the search and surveillance powers of the federal law-
enforcement and intelligence agencies.
■ Allowed trap-and-trace devices.
■ Allowed “sneak and peek” searches.
■ Credit card and bank accounts are now obtainable through
a subpoena.
■ Computer and Terrorist crimes eligible for eavesdropping.
○ Provisions allow the FBI to issue subpoenas based on
information being relevant to foriegn intelligence or international
terrorism investigation.
War on Terror and the Domestic
● Some new security institutions created during this time was the
Department of Homeland Security.
● The National Security Agency (NSA) and Federal Bureau of
Investigation (FBI) would begin intelligence-gathering programs
○ Edward Snowden
■ In 2013 revealed secret wide-ranged information-
gathering programs by the NSA
■ Among the NSA secrets leaked by Snowden was a
court order that compelled Verizon to turn over
metadata for millions of its subscribers.
■ Disclosed the existence of PRISM: a data-mining
program that reportedly gave government agencies
“direct access” to the servers of such Internet giants
as Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and Apple.
● Other features included: increased security measures for airports,
borders, and public events.
War on Terror

The War on Terror has essentially enabled extensive

and large amounts of surveillance on U.S. citizens
without them knowing.

The policies and provisions introduced in this time

have left little privacy of citizens and little obstacles
in the way for the government to obtain unwarranted
information.
Bibliography
● https://www.ducksters.com/history/us_government/fourth_amendment.php
● https://debruinlawfirm.com/landmark-fourth-amendment-cases/
● https://www.uscourts.gov/about-federal-courts/educational-resources/about-educational-outreach/activity-resources/what-does-0
● https://www.britannica.com/topic/war-on-drugs
● https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-watch/wp/2014/03/31/the-drug-war-exception-to-the-fourth-amendment/
● https://drugpolicy.org/issues/brief-history-drug-war
● https://www.britannica.com/topic/war-on-terrorism
● https://www.britannica.com/topic/USA-PATRIOT-Act
● https://www.britannica.com/biography/Edward-Snowden