NCJ Number
84358
Date Published
1980
Length
8 pages
Annotation
An attorney explains the law and citizens' rights regarding search and seizure, with emphasis on warrantless searches, police rights to stop and frisk a person, search warrants, and search and seizure under the customs laws.
Abstract
Seizure under income tax laws, searches under drunk driving laws, and electronic eavesdropping and wiretapping are also covered. Although searches planned by police officers require search warrants, most searches are unplanned and thus warrantless. A warrantless search is permissible if the incriminating evidence is in plain view of the police officer, if the citizen voluntarily consents to the search or seizure, and if there are such special circumstances as a lawful arrest. Police officers have the right to stop persons on the street briefly and make reasonable inquiries. However, citizens who are detained from leaving for an extended time period are being seized and are entitled to certain constitutional rights. A lawful frisk consists of only a patdown unless the patdown indicates an object which the officer reasonably believes to be a weapon. For a search warrant to be lawful, it must be based on one or more affidavits establishing probable cause for the search or seizure. Under customs laws, warrantless border searches are permitted and can be used on mere suspicion without any reliable factual basis. The government may subpoena tax or business records related to a civil tax investigation and may seize items upon which tax liens exist. Drunk driving laws permit tests to determine intoxication; these tests are searches. Government officials cannot lawfully eavesdrop on telephone or private personal conversations without meeting constitutional requirements for searches and seizures.