The Fourth Amendment to the American Constitution states that the people shall be secure in their persons against unreasonable searches and seizures and that no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause (1788)

Found in Liberty, Order, and Justice

James McClellan in Liberty, Order, and Justice (2000) comments on each of the Amendments to the U.S. Constitution which make up what is known as the Bill of Rights. Here is the IVth:

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.

The constitutional expert, James McClellan, provides a very useful commentary on the American Bill of Rights. He notes both the original intent of the authors as well as how courts in the modern era have interpreted and extended the laws to take into account technological and other changes. A nice connection here is that one of his academic positions in 1999 was as “James Bryce Visiting Fellow in American Studies” at the Institute of United States Studies of the University of London. James Bryce’s work on The American Commonwealth (1995) has been published by Liberty Fund and we have other works by him in the OLL collection.