The Fourth Amendment in Criminal Procedure

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The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution was first introduced in 1789 by James Maddison, and was a part of the Bill of Rights which includes the first ten amendments. The Fourth Amendment was created and ultimately it was created to protect two things the right to privacy and the freedom against unlawful invasions. The exact wording of the Fourth Amendment is “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 person or things to be seized.”(“Fourth Amendment”). Now after reading that some people may think they are completely safe from all types of searches and seizures, but they would be wrong. The Fourth Amendment is not a total protection against all searches and seizures against all searches and seizures; if it is declared under law a person can be searched or seized. (“What does the Fourth Amendment Mean?”). There are some specific things that are governed by the Fourth Amendment that deal specifically with criminal procedure such as arrests with warrants, searches with warrants, arrests without warrants, searches without warrants, seizure of evidence, and different types of stops and seizures (Criminal Procedure). All of this might seem confusing to the average American when just reading it casually and it sometimes can be for a person such as a police officer who is supposed to be fully educated on all these things and more. Almost all United States citizens know their First Amendment rights such as free speech and jury trial, but the Fourth Amendment always seems ... ... middle of paper ... ...er than the fourth amendment. These amendments were not created to tell us our rights; they were created to tell the officers what they can and cannot do when enforcing the law. References • "Fourth Amendment." LII / Legal Information Institute. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Apr. 2014. • Kimberly, M. (2008). Discovering Arrest Warrants: Intervening Police Conduct and Foreseeability. Yale Law Journal, 118(1), 177-185. • Slobogin, C. (2012). What Is the Essential Fourth Amendment?. Texas Law Review, 91(2), 403-417. • "What Does the Fourth Amendment Mean?." USCOURTSGOV RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Apr. 2014. . • Worrall, John L.. Criminal procedure. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Education, 2013. Print.

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