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Importance Of The Fourth Amendment To The United States

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The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits the unlawful search and seizure of the personal residences of citizens, and also outlines the right to privacy that is awarded to citizens of the United States. The fourth amendment states:
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 being seized.
Even after the ratification of the Fourth Amendment, it was permissible for evidence that was seized and collected without a warrant and in violation of the Fourth Amendment to be admissible in court. This remained the common practice until 1914. In the Supreme Court’s decision to Weeks v. United States, what is known as the exclusionary rule was created; when a conviction that was based on …show more content…

Officers visited the Mapp home and requested entry, but were denied. Mapp demanded a warrant to be presented if the officers wished to search her home. Two officers left and then returned sometime later with what they identified as a search warrant. Mapp took the warrant, which was wrestled from her. During the search they officers did not find the bombing suspect or any illegal betting equipment. Officers did, however, find some pornographic material, and Mapp was arrested, tried, convicted and sentenced for possession of pornographic material. The alleged search warrant was never submitted to evidence or presented at the trial.
The case was reviewed by the United States Supreme Court, the questions presented was “Did Ohio law fail to provide Mapp her Fourth Amendment protection against ‘unreasonable search and

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