Constitutional Policing Our text states “The criminal justice system is bound by laws that criminal justice actors must follow. This body of law is known as procedural law. If criminal justice actors violate procedural laws, criminal cases can be "tossed out," and if the violation is serious enough, the criminal justice professional can be held legally responsible.” (Wright, 2012). However, there are many cases that have been in court and many arguments have been fought considering if the law was followed legally and correctly. We have laws that all justice systems must follow to guarantee the safety and rights of all citizens are being followed and not infringed upon in any way.
Our text conveys these guidelines and it is stated that “The Constitution of the United States which was adopted in 1787, is the supreme law of the United States. The Constitution lays out the structure and framework of the government, its powers, and the rights of citizens. No U.S. law is higher than constitutional law. The Bill of Rights conveys the first 10 amendments of the U.S.Constitution” (Wright, 2012). The amendment that we will be investigating will be one of the most important in any justice system which is The Fourth Amendment to the Constitution. This amendment reads: The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable search and seizures, shall not be violate, 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 seized. (Wright, 2012).
The case of Weeks v. United States is in regards to the violation of the Fourth Amendment. Weeks was arrested at his place of employment and even though he was not home law enforcement unlawfully entered his home and seized documents which they wanted to use against him in the court of law. The case covers these acts because a warrant was not issued to enter is home or retrieve any documents in regards to the charges he was being arrested on at this point of time. After careful examination of this case this amendment was violated due to unlawful search and seizure by law enforcement. Personal property was taken from the plaintiffs’ home without a warrant and these items were being used against him in the court of law. The court went through several other court cases that had similar issues to determine if a violation had occurred to the plaintiffs’ rights of unlawful search and seizure without a warrant. Upon the findings and dedication of the system that the rights of the people shall not be infringed and upon the courts findings they ruled in the plaintiffs’ favor. His rights had been violated and that the findings and the indictments needed to be reversed using the laws as the foundation of any or new prosecution proceedings could be filed in this case. (Weeks v. United States, 1911).
The case of Silverthorne Lumber Company, Inc. ET AL v. United States is also about the acts of a violation of The Constitutions Fourth Amendment. The facts of law enforcement going to this company and did an illegal search and recovery of documents of the company evading taxes without a search warrant was a violation of the fourth amendment. Court rulings led to the return of the original documents but copies made were not which in fact is illegal as well. However, subpoenas where produced for the company to reproduce these documents and were denied by the company due to they believed their rights had been infringed upon in the previous acts. The courts already had the copies, so in my opinion why were they needed again? Although, these documents could not be produced as evidence due to the illegal prior acts the fact of denial of the company refusing to produce the documents again is what was in question. The fact that this was a corporation and not a sole person the rights of the fourth amendment still apply to all regardless of the title of the