The Fourth Amendment, Essay Example

Under the fourth amendment, citizens of the United States are protected from unreasonable searches and seizures.  Under the fourth amendment, a judicially-sanctioned search permit is required by sworn persons of the law who see reason to search a person or their property, as well as seizing personal property. Likewise, a government sanctioned arrest warrant and supportable probable cause must be attained in order to arrest an individual.

Coolidge vs. New Hampshire is an example of unlawful search.  In this case, the convicted murderer, Coolidge had his home searched by officers of the law.  He claimed that the search was unauthorized.  Indeed, the officers of law did not have the proper  warrants, and the search was considered unconstitutional .

Another example of the fourth amendment would be Wilson vs. Arkansas.  In this case, officers obtained proper warrants to search Wilson because she tried to sell drugs to undercover police officers.  When they went to her home, they found that the screen door was unlocked and they entered unannounced. Because the entered unannounced, all evidence found in this search was not allowed.

A final example would be Terry vs. Ohio.  In this case, an un-uniformed officer suspected two men of planning to commit a crime.  He searched them and found weapons on them. This case was ruled reasonable by the court because the officer acted on probable cause and because Terry was believed to be a threat to the officer’s safety while he was investigating.

In conclusion, the rights of an American citizen are protected by requiring an officer of law to obtain special permission to search or seize personal property or to arrest an individual. However, it is apparent that the rules stipulated by this amendment have very fine lines and therefore, people of the law must be very careful in how they go go about their tasks.