Essay On Fourth Amendment

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The Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution provides citizens and corporations protection from unreasonable search and seizure. Furthermore, it secures a person’s rights to be secure in their person’s, homes, and personal so that unreasonable or unauthorized searches cannot lead to the seizure of property to be used against a person as evidence. In order for a search to be considered reasonable a search warrant must be approved by a judge. A court will issue a search warrant in the event that a government official seeking the warrant can show probable cause, or in other words, proof (based on known facts) that the search may in fact uncover evidence of criminal activity. If and when a search warrant is granted, it is issued for the search …show more content…

Notably, this law does not apply in all circumstances such as when there is reason to believe that the item being sought will be removed before a search warrant can be issued. Furthermore, automobile searches are often conducted without a search warrant. The Fourth Amendment is important because it provides U.S. citizens with a sense of autonomy over one’s self without the thought of being unjustly invaded by government officials. Due to the regulations imposed by this law American people can feel safe to conduct their lives as they normally would, providing that they are living within the limitations of the law. As a member of the minority community this law is of particular importance because it serves to police the police by holding them accountable and preventing them from targeting certain groups of people. While racial profiling has not been completely banned, this law reduces the number of individuals who would be unjustly targeted based on demographics and race. A legal scholar may disagree with the Fourth amendment and argue that the submission of evidence obtained illegally or without a warrant should be admissible if there was probable cause for an arrest even if the arrest is not directly linked to the evidence found which produced evidence of further criminal activity. Such as in the case of Utah vs. Strieff.

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