Summary of Search and Arrest Warranty
Introduction
A search warrant is a type of court order issued by a judge to give law enforcement officers authority to carry out a search to an individual, property, or anything and communicate the evidence they find. The court order is most issued under the vent of crime, and there is not enough evidence. As such, the court has the authority to issue a search warrant for the evidence or illegal property to be collected. However, in most states, a search for a civil process cannot be given (Berryman, 2011). A search warrant has a requirement that should be fulfilled to be accepted as a legit one. In essence, this paper gives an insight into the requirements, how they relate to privacy, and the outstanding search warrant.
Requirements for a search warrant
For a search warrant to be accepted by the public, it must meet the following four significant requirements;
- Must be signed in utmost good faith by a court of law
A search warrant is issued by a court of law and must be fully signed. The public has a right to assess the originality of the warranty (Gershowitz, 2015). More significantly, the stamps and the judges should be legit. As such, an individual has a right to deny the officers permission if, by any means, the documents issued are not legit. Also, they can file a petition for the intrusion of their privacy.
- Reliable information must be provided on the causes of the search.
After verifying if the documents are legit, the search’s primary objective and reason must be addressed. The warrant has to mention the causes as well as why they are searching. It is essential because there is no way the law enforcement officers can visit a premise without a valid reason. Also, the individual has a right to deny access if they feel the reasons are not worthy of allowing access. Therefore, the reason for the search must be well mentioned and elaborated.
- A warrant has to be issued by a neutral magistrate.
A search warrant cannot be issued by a judge or magistrate directly linked to the crime. For instance, the magistrate must be an outside person from the crime scene’s circle or case. The primary reason for this requirement is to reduce and avoid biasness in the case as possible. It will also give the individual right to privacy and confidence over the issue (Gershowitz, 2015). Thus, if the judge or magistrate is related to the case, they have no right to access or sign the search warrant.
- The warrant must highlight the specific places to be searched and the items under the search.
The warrant has to highlight what the court of law is up to and why. For example, the reasons why they are searching for specific places have to be outlined in the warrant. Besides, the particular items that are searched must be listed. At any point, the officers interrupt the privacy or threaten them; they have a right to deny them access. Therefore, it is essential to maintain the highlighted objectives of the search warrant.
Relationship to right of privacy and probable cause
The right to privacy should be a critical factor in any search warrant. The major aim of a search warrant is not to oppress the rights of the privacy of the persecuted individual but carry out the required and highlighted sections in the warrant. However, some of the search warrants do consider privacy rights for the individual, which should be against the law. Such cases have highly been reported in many countries. For example, most of the cases in many countries are highly linked to racism, as blacks are the significant reporters of such cases. Research by has even shown that most of the law enforcement officers do come with a search warrant in the black people’s premises (Gershowitz, 2015). Such cases should be avoided, and the officers should be judged in a court of law. However, a law enforcement officer can conduct a search warrant when they have consent to do it. For example, in the murder case, they don’t have to go and ask for a warrant as the evidence can be hidden. Thus, the public should be aware of these particular situations.
Alternatively, the way the search is conducted has a significant relationship to privacy. More significantly, the searches that are done in private rooms. For example, the bedrooms have to be done with care as any interruption of the items not listed in the search can be reported. At all times, the officers must maintain a professional relationship with the client throughout the search for unbiased evidence to be collected (Berryman, 2011). Hence, the primary objectives of the search warrant must be followed with no point of deviation.
Exceptions to warrant requirements
There are various exceptions to search warrant. For instance, according to the law, there exist six significant exceptions to search warrant requirements.
A search incident linked to a lawful arrest does not warrant the law enforcement officers to search. More especially, when suspect has been arrested by the police officers.
Under explicit view exception. This happens when the police officers are actively present in the location. They, therefore, have the right to search the person and their property without a warrant.
When consent is issued, there no need for a search warrant. For example, an individual has informed the officers of where the individual lives, and they believe it is the location, they don’t need a warrant.
Stop, and frisk is another exception. For instance, if a police officer suspects that the person is associated with the crime, they don’t need a search warrant.
Automobile exception. Assets like vehicles do not need a search warrant as they are highly mobile. Therefore, police officers do not need the warrant to search for vehicles.
Under the emergency, there is no need for a search warrant. Under situations where the evidence can be easily destroyed, police officers have a right to search the property.
In a nutshell, the fact that search warranties are essential in day-to-day law enforcement activities cannot be ignored. More especially, how they are related to privacy and the exception warrant situations. Besides, the public must be aware of the requirements for a warrant. Therefore, a search warrant should, at times, consider the privacy of the individual.
References
Berryman, J. (2011). The Anton Piller order – A civil search warrant. SSRN Electronic Journal. doi:10.2139/ssrn.3309879
Gershowitz, A. M. (2015). The Post-Riley search warrant: Search protocols and particularity in cell phone searches. SSRN Electronic Journal. doi:10.2139/ssrn.2634473