Informed by common law practices, the Fourth Amendment1 protects the “full enjoyment of the rights of personal security, personal liberty, and private property” 2 by prohibiting unreasonable searches and seizures. In particular, the Fourth Amendment provides that warrants must be supported by probable cause and that the person to be seized, the place to be searched, and the evidence to be sought is specified in the warrant. The Supreme Court, however, has interpreted the Fourth Amendment to allow exceptions to the warrant requirement.

Footnotes

1

U.S. Const. amend. IV.

2

3 Joseph Story, Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States § 1902 (1833).