The fourth amendment protects individuals from unreasonable searches of personal property by police. The word reasonable, however, means this search is open to some interpretation. The fourth amendment does make clear that police need written permission to search a person’s belongings if they are investigating…
This page has been written, edited, and reviewed by a team of legal writers following comprehensive editorial guidelines. This page was approved by Founding Attorney JosephineHallam, who has more than two decades of litigation and family law experience.