The Fourth Amendment and Lawful Arrest

Reasonable suspicion can be found in the first clause of the Fourth Amendment (Siegel, 2012). It is considered the evidence necessary to prove that a crime has been committed (Siegel, 2012). There is not an exact minimum needed, however Justices have figured it has to fall below the evidence necessary to prove beyond a reasonable doubt of guilt needed in a trial (Siegel, 2012). This part of the Fourth Amendment is also included in the foggy understanding. There is a bias towards how this clause should be read and understood (Bloom, 2003). A vast majority of the courts show preference towards the reasonableness clause and that is should be read separately from the warrant clause (Bloom, 2003). Researches feel that this interpretation of the clause leads to more discretionary power to the government than the original framers intended (Bloom, 2003). The court continues to use the historical context in recent rulings in cases (Bloom, 2003). In Wilson v. Arkansas (1995) Justice Clarence Thomas pointed out that to give meaning to the reasonableness term, it is useful to determine the intent of the Framers (Bloom, 2003). In Kyllo v United States (2001) the court continued to recognize the importance of the home; such as by announcing ones self before a home search to determining the Fourth Amendment reasonableness (Bloom, 2003). In Atwater v City of Largo Vista (2001), Justice David Souter turned to the history of the Fourth Amendment to determine the power of an officer to make an arrest without a warrant for a misdemeanor that did not involve a breach of the peace (Walker, 2003, pp. 239-252). Justice Souter concluded that the evidence suggested that the framers did not view a warrantless arrest for misdemeanor, unaccompanied by real o...

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...rests-warrants. Georgetown Law Journal, 71(2), 342-369. Retrieved March 20, 2014, from http://df9uh2wc8b.search.serialssolutions.com/?ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&ctx_enc=info:ofi/enc:UTF-8&ctx_tim=2014-03-31T00%3A07%3A03IST&url_ver=Z39.88-2004&url_ctx_fmt=infofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&rfr_id=info:sid/primo.exlibrisgroup.com:primo3-Article-gale_ofa&rft_val
Siegel, L., & Worrall, J. (2012). Introduction to Criminal Justice (14th ed.). Belmont, California: Wadsworth.
Stephens, O. H., & Glenn, R. A. (2006). Unreasonable searches and seizures rights and liberties under the law. Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-Clio.
Walker, J., & McKinnon, K. (2003). Atwater v. City of Lago Vista: Police Authority to Make Warrantless Misdemeanor Arrests. Journal of Contempary Criminal Justice, 19(2), 239-252. Retrieved March 20, 2014, from http://ccj.sagepub.com.ezproxy.fiu.edu/content/19/2/239.full.pdf+html