Also known as: searches · searched · searching · search and seizure
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
2 senses
An examination of a person's body, property, or other area that the person would reasonably be expected to consider as private, conducted by a law-enforcement officer for the purpose of finding evidence of a crime. The Fourth Amendment prohibits unreasonable searches and requires warrants supported by probable cause that particularly describe the place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized.
An examination of a person's body, property, or other area that the person would reasonably be expected to consider as private, conducted by a law-enforcement officer for the purpose of finding evidence of a crime. The Fourth Amendment prohibits unreasonable searches and requires warrants supported by probable cause that particularly describe the place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized.
Solomon Silver returned home to find federal agents inside his residence examining documents without a warrant. The agents had received a tip about illegal activity but had not presented any sworn statement to a magistrate. Silver moved to suppress the seized papers, arguing that the entry violated his security in his house under the Fourth Amendment.
The process of examining public records to determine the chain of title to real property and to identify defects or liens that may affect ownership.
Sophia Singh hired a title company to search the records for a commercial building. The search missed a recorded judgment lien. After closing, the lienholder demanded payment. Singh sued the title insurer for the loss, relying on the policy that indemnified against defects the title search should have revealed.
The process of examining public records to determine the chain of title to real property and to identify defects or liens that may affect ownership.
Each sense below has its own examples, sources, and questions.
Sabrina Shah's warehouse was searched pursuant to a warrant that listed only "business records" without identifying specific files or the magistrate to whom it must be returned. Officers seized computers and ledgers. Shah challenged the warrant's validity, claiming it failed to identify the property to be searched with sufficient particularity.
Spencer Silver lay in wait outside the victim's workplace. Officers later conducted a warrantless search of his vehicle and seized evidence. Silver moved to suppress, arguing the search itself supplied the substantial step needed for attempt liability under the Model Penal Code.
Sydney Santos was convicted in state court after police seized drugs during an unconstitutional search of his vehicle. The state supreme court admitted the evidence despite the Fourth Amendment violation. Santos appealed, arguing that the exclusionary rule must bar the evidence in state proceedings just as it does in federal court.
Sylvia Santos was arrested without probable cause, leading officers to discover a witness who later identified her. The government sought to introduce the identification at trial. Santos moved to suppress it as fruit of the poisonous tree, claiming the connection between the illegal arrest and the evidence had not dissipated.
A search occurs when the government violates a person's reasonable expectation of privacy. The two-part test requires both an actual subjective expectation of privacy and that society recognizes the expectation as reasonable.
Yes. The exclusionary rule prohibits the use of evidence obtained in violation of the Fourth Amendment and applies to state proceedings through the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process Clause to deter police misconduct.
Evidence is admissible if obtained by means sufficiently distinguishable from the primary illegality so that the connection has become so attenuated as to dissipate the taint. Courts consider temporal proximity, intervening circumstances, and the flagrancy of the misconduct.
The warrant must identify the person or property to be searched, identify any person or property to be seized, and designate the magistrate judge to whom it must be returned.
…taking of property; the freedom of speech, press, and religion; the right to keep and bear arms; the freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures; and so on. It is a rational continuum which, broadly speaking, includes a freedom from all substantial arbitrary impositions and purposeless restraints . . . and which also…