NCJ Number
94764
Journal
Baylor Law Review Volume: 36 Issue: 1 Dated: (Winter 1984) Pages: 41-72
Date Published
1984
Length
32 pages
Annotation
Based on an analysis of the U.S. Supreme Court's nine search and seizure cases in the 1982 term, this article concludes that the Supreme Court thinks differently about the fourth amendment today than it did 10 to 20 years ago.
Abstract
The Supreme Court's view of the fourth amendment has changed substantially. Ten or 20 years ago, the Court developed inflexible prophylactic rules to guard against police abuse. The Court felt that young, poor, or black suspects were not fairly dealt with by local police or State courts. Today, the Court is far more confident in the police and in State judiciary. Thus, it has moved away from the warrant theory toward flexible standards. Underlying this move is the belief that police can be trusted with broad standards. If abuses occur, State courts can be trusted to correct them. This change is illustrated by a case in which the Court approved a warrantless seizure of a balloon filled with heroin from a car stopped at license checkpoint. The issue of container searches remains a problem. Containers do not fit comfortably into the Court-drawn dichotomy between private places and public places, vehicles, and objects in plain view. Basic principles such as requiring warrants for home searches and probable cause for arrests have been preserved by the current Court. A total of 141 footnotes are provided.