Read today’s Amendment carefully. This is an amendment that separates us from countries that have fallen under autocratic, freedom-extinguishing regimes. Those of us who were raised in the Cold War era remember the stories of Stalin and the gulags, of the Nazi regime and concentration camps, of China and the Cultural Revolution, etc. One of the hallmarks of these government forms is that the government usurps the right to invade homes, person, and properties to look for something of offense.
Of course, here in America, we have plenty of shameful examples of unconstitutional unreasonable searches and lack of probable cause. Americans of color can tell about that. Even today, Black parents have to have “the talk” with their teens about police officers and traffic stops.
Transcript is from National Archives (archives.gov)
Amendment IV
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.
Explanation
Here are the ways that the courts have interpreted the Fourth Amendment (this information is from USCourts.gov). BTW- some of these court interpretations of the Fourth Amendment are pretty shocking! What can We the People do? We can work on this from a legislative stance, our state and/or federal legislatures can pass legislation clarifying our Fourth Amendment rights.
Searches and seizures inside a home without a warrant are presumptively unreasonable. However, a warrantless search may be lawful if:
HOMES
-An officer has been given consent to search.
-If the search is incident to a lawful arrest.
-If there is probable cause to search and exigent circumstances.
-If the items are in plain view.
A PERSON
-When an officer observes unusual conduct which leads him reasonably to conclude that criminal activity may be afoot, the officer may briefly stop the suspicious person and make reasonable inquiries aimed at confirming or dispelling the officer’s suspicions.
SCHOOLS
-School officials need not obtain a warrant before searching a student who is under their authority; rather, a search of a student need only be reasonable under all circumstances.
CARS
-Where there is probable cause to believe that a vehicle contains evidence of a criminal activity, an officer may lawfully search any area of the vehicle in which the evidence might be found.
-An officer may conduct a traffic stop if he has reasonable suspicion that a traffic violation has occurred or that criminal activity is afoot.
-An officer may conduct at pat-down of the driver and passengers during a lawful traffic stop; the police need not believe that any occupant of the vehicle is involved in a criminal activity.
-The use of a narcotics-detection dog to walk around the exterior of a car subject to a valid traffic stop does not require reasonable, explainable suspicion.
-Special law enforcement concerns will sometimes justify highway stops without any individualized suspicions.
– An officer at an international border may conduct routine stops and searches.
– A state may use highway sobriety checkpoints for the purpose of combatting drunk driving.
-A state may set up highway checkpoints where the stops are brief and seek voluntary cooperation in the investigation of a recent crime that has occurred on that highway.
– However, a state may not use a highway checkpoint program whose primary purpose is the discovery and interdiction of illegal narcotics.
What keeps our government or law enforcement from overstepping and violating our Fourth Amendment rights?
We the People. Remember, we are the fourth branch of government and exercising our First Amendment rights to free speech is absolutely necessary. When you see a violation of the Constitution, speak up. Call, visit, or write your elected officials, write about it on your social media, pray about what else God might have you do that is in line with the First Amendment right to petition and assemble.
Also, know your rights. Check valid legal sources for information on how to handle situations where someone comes to your door, stops you on the sidewalk, or stops your car. This reminds me of the early days of homeschooling, when truant officers at the door were a common problem. All of us homeschooling parents had truant-officer-at-the-door drills with our kids. One of the powerful tools we had was Home School Legal Defense Association. If a truant officer came to the door, we just called HSLDA and handed the phone out the door to the officer. That usually made the issue disappear.
Thanks for reading the Constitution in a Month with me. If we know our Constitution and stand up for it, it cannot be stolen from us by shifty politicians.
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