A Fork in the Fourth

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Provided below is a great article about an unique part of the fourth amendment. Enjoy!

Prelude: Generally, the 4th amendment of the constitution of the United States commands:

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and 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

In other words, the 4th amendment requires that police have probable cause in order to search or seize persons or things. Essentially, if evidence was seized without probable cause, then the evidence may not be used at trial.

However, police officers sometimes screw up – they search or seize without probable cause. When police violate the 4 amendment (by searches or seizures without probable cause), judges may forgive the officers as long as the officers were acting reasonably and in good faith.

The problem with this exception is that whenever an officer makes both a categorically-novel and a reasonable mistake of the laws or facts, it’s any ones guess as to whether courts will bring it within the exception’s reach.

Furthermore,  while it is settled that only objectively-reasonable errors may come within the exception’s metes and bounds, it is not yet settled whether all objectively reasonable errors do so.

Featured image by Oregon Department of Transportation, Creative Commons license, Attribution 2.0 Generic.