Also known as: warrant requirements · warrant req · search warrant requirement
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A constitutional principle that searches and seizures conducted without prior judicial approval are per se unreasonable under the Fourth Amendment. The principle requires a warrant supported by probable cause and particularity unless a specifically established exception applies. It serves as a check on law enforcement by interposing a neutral magistrate between the citizen and the police.
Warren Woods is arrested for driving with a suspended license and taken to the stationhouse. Officers inventory the contents of his backpack before placing him in a cell and discover illegal drugs. The inventory search proceeds without a warrant because it falls within a recognized exception to the warrant requirement.
William Williams refuses entry to city inspectors seeking to check his residence for housing code violations. The inspectors obtain an administrative warrant based on a general area inspection plan rather than individualized suspicion of criminal activity. The warrant satisfies the warrant requirement even though the probable cause showing differs from that required in criminal cases.
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Wallace Webb is stopped for a traffic violation and appears nervous while standing near his open car door. An officer conducts a limited search of the passenger compartment for weapons without a warrant. The search is upheld as an exception to the warrant requirement when officers reasonably believe the suspect may gain immediate access to a weapon.
Willow West challenges a search by state officers conducted without a warrant. The Court applies the warrant requirement of the Fourth Amendment against the state through the Fourteenth Amendment. The decision confirms that the warrant requirement is a fundamental protection incorporated to the states.
Wanda Williams is arrested at the police station. Officers later enter her home without a warrant and seize clothing they believe links her to a crime. The search violates the warrant requirement because no exception such as exigent circumstances or consent justifies the entry after the arrest is complete.
Wanda Weaver is suspected of participating in a narcotics transaction. Officers enter her apartment without a warrant after observing glassine envelopes through a window. The entry violates the warrant requirement because no exigent circumstances or other exception authorized the intrusion.
Searches conducted outside the judicial process without prior approval by a judge or magistrate are per se unreasonable under the Fourth Amendment unless they fall within a few specifically established and well-delineated exceptions.
Yes. Administrative inspectors generally must obtain a warrant to conduct inspections of private residences for code enforcement, although the showing of probable cause differs from that required in criminal investigations.
No. There is no general murder scene exception to the warrant requirement. The seriousness of the offense alone does not justify a prolonged warrantless search of a homicide scene once emergency circumstances have ended.
Police may conduct an inventory search of an arrestee's personal belongings such as items in his possession at the stationhouse prior to incarceration following a valid arrest. Such inventory searches are a recognized exception to the warrant requirement.
…to search, and we hold that in the case of a lawful custodial arrest a full search of the person is not only an exception to the warrant requirement of the Fourth Amendment, but is also a reasonable' search under that Amendment." Id. , at 235. See also id. , at 237-238 (POWELL, J., concurring) ("The search incident to arrest is…