The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
Proposed 1789, ratified 1791 as a bulk ratification of the first ten amendments, the original ten amendments, the Bill of Rights known as the peoples rights.
There are two clause:
Clause 1: Unreasonable searches and seizures (The Reasonableness Clause)
Clause 2: Warrant (Warrant Clause)
While James Madison is sighted as the author of the first draft, it is John Adams version, and his arguments for, that has resulted in its final wording.
The 4th amendment was applied to the states in a ruling by the Court in Mapp v. Ohio (1961). Although the 14th amendment has been used by the Court to assert that the Bill of Rights applied to the states.
4th_Amendment_ex
The 4th amendment is enforced by the exclusionary rule, established by Weeks v. United States (1914).
To understand the 4th amendment and finding of its way into the Bill of Rights the following are two sources: Writs of Assistance Case and The Framers’ Intent: John Adams, His Era, and the Fourth Amendment.
As Thomas K. Clancy wrote in The Framers’ Intent, “The amendment contains two grammatically independent clauses joined by the conjunction “and.” The first clause is called the Reasonableness Clause and merely specifies, without elaboration, that all searches and seizures must be reasonable. The second clause, commonly called the Warrant Clause, requires that warrants be under oath or affirmation, that the places to be searched and the persons and things to be seized must be particularly described, and that the intrusion be supported by probable cause.”
