§ 5.04 "Papers and Effects"

• Jurisdiction: North Carolina

§ 5.04 "Papers and Effects"

The term "papers" encompasses personal items, such as letters and diaries, as well as impersonal business records.¹⁸

The word "effects" represents the residual component of the constitutional phrase. For example, "effects" include automobiles, luggage and other containers, clothing, weapons, and even the fruits of a crime.¹⁹ The term is less inclusive, however, than the word "property." For example, the Supreme Court has determined that an "open field," which is not a "house," is also not an "effect."²⁰

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Notes:

^[18] See, e.g., Andresen v. Maryland, 427 U.S. 463 (1976) (business records).

^[19] See, e.g., United States v. Chadwick, 433 U.S. 1 (1977) (automobile); Bond v. United States, 529 U.S. 334 (2000) (luggage); United States v. Edwards, 415 U.S. 800 (1974) (clothing); Warden v. Hayden, 387 U.S. 294 (1967) (weapons, money from a robbery).

^[20] Oliver v. United States, 466 U.S. at 177.