Search Warrants and the 4th Amendment

Focusing on Details: Spotlight

All documents and text associated with this activity are printed below, followed by a worksheet for student responses.

Introduction

Closely examine the search warrant on the screen. After carefully analyzing the document, respond to the questions below. Click the magnifying glass to take a closer look at the document as you respond to the questions.

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Worksheet

Search Warrants and the 4th Amendment

Focusing on Details: Spotlight

Examine the documents included in this activity and write your response in the space provided.

What information is offered as probable cause?
What is the place to be searched?
What items are to be seized according to the search warrant?
Who is the official authorizing the search?

Your Response

Activity Element

Search warrant for Clay Fourth Apartments, apartment C

Page 1

Conclusion

Search Warrants and the 4th Amendment

Focusing on Details: Spotlight

Does the search warrant above fulfill all necessary requirements as outlined in the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution?

Now that you have studied the necessary requirements for issuing a search warrant, draft a a search warrant that police officers would have needed in the case of Weeks v. the United States in order to make the search constitutional. Consider the items seized by law enforcement when Freemont Weeks was arrested, the subsequent search of his apartment, and the charges that were filed against him at the time of his trial.

Your Response

Document

Search warrant for Clay Fourth Apartments, apartment C

11/12/1931

This primary source comes from the General Records of the Department of the Treasury.

National Archives Identifier: 298495

Full Citation: Search warrant for Clay Fourth Apartments, apartment C; 11/12/1931; Seattle Conspiracy (Olmstead) Investigation; Investigative Case Files, 1924 - 1933; General Records of the Department of the Treasury, ; National Archives at Seattle, Seattle, WA. [Online Version, https://www.docsteach.org/documents/document/search-warrant-for-clay-fourth-apartments-apartment-c, April 19, 2024]