DALE CARSON LAW

Under the Fourth Amendment, anything that does not have a warrant is an unreasonable search. It may be a seizure later if they find contraband, but unreasonable searches and seizures always have one of three things. Exigent circumstances. It’s an emergency. A house is burning and I’ve got to go in to rescue people. I see contraband. You could be charged with that. Consent. If you consent to an actual search, then of course, it can be used against you. The last, but the most reasonable, is a warrant. That warrant requires a signing off for an affidavit of the facts to a judge. A judge has to authorize that search. The whole purpose of this is to protect you and I as citizens from overreaching by the government and them just walking up to asking to search or creating some exigent circumstance that does not really exist.