NCJ Number
127815
Date Published
1990
Length
78 pages
Annotation
After an overview of the general legal requirements for search warrants, this chapter presents significant U.S. Supreme Court and Federal circuit court decisions pertinent to various aspects of search-warrant requirements.
Abstract
Search warrant requirements stem from the fourth amendment, which safeguards the "right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures." Additionally, the amendment requires that "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." Generally, the U.S. Supreme Court has viewed a search and seizure as "per se unreasonable within the meaning of the fourth amendment unless it is accomplished pursuant to a judicial warrant issued upon probable cause and particularly describing the places to be searched and the items to be seized." The judicial preference that underscores the written warrant requirement is predicated upon the proposition that the necessity, validity, and reasonableness of a prospective search or seizure can best be determined by a "neutral and detached magistrate" instead of a law enforcement officer. The magistrate determines whether probable cause exists to believe that particularly described property that is subject to official seizure may be presently found at a particular place. Particular issues addressed in the court decisions presented are the oath or affirmation, the probable cause requirement, staleness, attack on the sufficiency or integrity of the affidavit, the particularity requirement, and the places to be searched and the things to be seized. Other issues covered in the court decisions are the warrant execution, time, entry, scope of the search, and telephonic search warrants.