§ 5.01 Significance of the Constitutional Phrase

• Jurisdiction: North Carolina

§ 5.01 Significance of the Constitutional Phrase

The Fourth Amendment provides that the "right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated . . ."¹ Therefore, police activity that does not involve a person, house, paper, or effect is not barred by the Fourth Amendment — regardless of whether the police activity is reasonable or unreasonable, conducted with or without a warrant, and whether supported by probable cause, some lesser suspicion, or no credible evidence at all.

Very few cases have turned on the meaning of this constitutional phrase. Occasionally, however...