Vehicle Searches
Fourth Amendment Rights While in an Automobile
The Fourth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States establishes that a search or seizure conducted by a governmental agent must be reasonable, and that probable cause support any judicially granted warrant. Originally, the Supreme Court interpreted this provision as imposing a presumptive warrant requirement, declaring that “searches conducted outside the judicial process without prior approval by judge or magistrate are per se unreasonable under the Fourth Amendment — subject only to a few specifically established and well delineated exceptions.” — Katz v. United States (1967). The Court has eschewed this approach at times, determining that “a warrant is…
