The Fourth Amendment

Abstract This book tells the full story of the Fourth Amendment's complex history leading up to its ratification, including its intellectual roots in England. The Fourth Amendment's protection against unreasonable search and seizure provides the bulwark for police regulation and many other government functions in the United States. One of the most controversial rights in the Bill of Rights, this amendment is also among the most frequently adjudicated provisions of constitutional law. Yet its meaning has remained deeply contested, and the story of its origins is largely unknown. This book has particular relevance today given the long list of controversial new surveillance measures undertaken by the government in recent years. It provides historical context to recent events such as the passage of the USA–Patriot Act, the NSA surveillance program, new surveillance techniques, and the emergence of data mining. There is—and will be for the foreseeable future—extensive attention given to the Fourth Amendment as it is applied to new technologies. The preface has been written by privacy expert Daniel Solove.