U.S. Constitution -- Fourth Amendment Fourth Amendment

U.S. Constitution -- Fourth Amendment

Fourth Amendment

At the moment of independence of the United States from Great Britain, the colonials sought to create a charter of laws and regulations that would preserve the people's rights when placed in the face of government. Monarchy for the colonies was at an end; because of the experiences of the people, it was clear to the colonial inhabitants of the then-13 colonies that made up the United States that there would be a need to protect themselves from the abuses of government, be they monarchy or democracy. This desire of protection gave birth to the creation of the United States Constitution in 1787. The Declaration of Independence called upon the abuses of power of the British monarchy. As a follow-up, the Constitution further establishes the extent of the people's rights. That said, the first ten amendments focuses on the definition of the people's rights and the protection of said rights. The ten amendments would ultimately be called the Bill of Rights, and contain the constitutional grounds for protection of the people vs. The United States government.

Of the ten amendments, this paper chooses to put particular emphasis on the Fourth Amendment, which deals with the government's rights to a siege and seizure of private property. The amendment states:

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 (U.S. Constitution).

To shortly summarize, the Fourth Amendment seeks to find that an unreasonable search of a person's private property is unconstitutional, and disallowed from being used as evidence against said person. The amendment further states that a warrant must be issued only when there is reasonable cause to search a person's private space. These concessions have been hotly debated by many judicial who interpret the Constitutional amendments using different precedents. Yet there is no denying the importance and the direct linking of the Fourth Amendment to the rest of the Bill of Rights.

Importance of the Amendment

The first three amendments, prior to the Fourth Amendment of invasion of privacy, speak of the freedom with which the people are protected from persecution by the government. In these three amendments, the people have the freedom in religion, speech, the press, the right to bear arms, and the right to refuse the opening of their homes to soldiers in times of peace. These are straightforward enough. The latter amendments proceed to build off on these first three, following with the Fourth Amendment, which combines the people's rights by giving them privacy in their individual properties. By violating this private space and seizing what officials deem "unlawful" without the use of a warrant, the freedom of the people is also violated in the Bill of Rights.

As such, the Fourth Amendment is a necessary link and addition to the details of a person's personal freedom at the face of government. "No man can set foot upon my ground without my license…" (Cornell Law School); This statement in and of itself is the main reason for the practice of personal liberties regarding this amendment. Without the Fourth Amendment, the act of searching a person's home without consent and permission of proper persons -- the owner or a judge acting upon the belief of "probable cause for searches" -- would not be unconstitutional. This warrantless act would only bring the government back to that status of monarchy, because the colonials -- under the monarch of Great Britain -- had already undergone searches and sieges of properties during the period of oppression from abroad.

It becomes an important common law to practice upon the Fourth Amendment. In the courts, evidentiary support must be legally obtained. Should the evidence be found in a person's home and establishment, warrants must be issued proclaiming the degree of the search within said person's house. Without these warrants, and without probable cause, testimony against the defendant will be deemed unlawful and unconstitutional. Evidence retrieved from a house without a warrant declaring the government's reasonable need to search a private establishment would be suppressed in the court of law. These evidences would be unconstitutional.