Searches, Seizures, and Warrants: A Reference Guide to the United States Constitution

An inherent tension resides in the Fourth Amendment’s strictures on unreasonable searches and seizures. We want it to protect our privacy from government intrusion, yet we want the police to do whatever is required to solve crime. Greater controls on the power of the police provide more privacy protections to citizens. Reduced controls on police actions provide less privacy protection to citizens. Bloom explores this tension as he guides the reader to through the history and relevant Supreme Court decisions that have shaped the current state of Fourth Amendment law.

ROBERT M. BLOOM is Professor of Law at Boston College Law School. He is the author of Ratting: The Use and Abuse of Informants in the American Justice System (Praeger, 2002), and Criminal Procedure (2nd edition, 1996), and Constitutional Criminal Procedure (1992).