The Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects us from unreasonable searches and seizures by the Government. The Fourth Amendment provides:
“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, 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 to be seized.”
A similar provision is also contained in the Ohio Constitution. Section 14, Article I also protects individuals from unreasonable searches and seizures. The section provides:
“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and possessions, against unreasonable searches and seizures shall not be violated, and no warrant shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, particularly describing the place to be searched, and the person and things to be seized.”
In construing these commands, there has been general agreement that “except in certain carefully defined classes of cases, a search of private property without proper consent is ‘unreasonable’ unless it has been authorized by a valid search warrant.” This means that the police cannot just walk into your home whenever they want and search the place looking for evidence of a crime. It also means that the police cannot simply stop you in public at their capricious whim and demand that you submit to searches of your person.
To do any of the above-mentioned things, the Government must have a warrant. This warrant must be issued by a neutral party and can only be issued upon a finding that Probable Cause exists to suspect that you may be involved in criminal activity.
Of course, the police do not travel around with neutral magistrates in their cruisers, and they cannot always get a warrant when they need one at 2:30 a.m. There is then an exception to the warrant requirement that if the facts are later presented to a neutral magistrate or judge, and Probable Cause is retroactively determined to have existed, then the search and seizure will be deemed permissible.