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  • Essay / The 4th and Fourth Amendments: The Fourth and Fifth...

    As a result of the new government that America had to form, the framers of the Constitution believed that important steps must be taken to avoid tyranny , since this is what the We fought a long malicious revolutionary war. To prevent the possibility of another cruel and oppressive government, the framers wrote the constitution ¬ to protect the people against tyranny at all levels. When drafting the amendments to the Bill of Rights, the framers particularly focused on how the government would police the population. After facing centuries of British control and close scrutiny of King George's tyranny, change needed to be made to avoid a repeat of history. The amendments critically examined the main activities that violated the population. The Fourth and Fifth Amendments combine to form a unanimous declaration that personal and private property shall be held with the greatest protection and sanctity. The framers of the constitution learned lessons from why the revolutionary war was fought and from the unreasonable acts committed by the British. For Americans of that generation, protecting private documents was the equivalent of protecting emails and messages today. During the reign of King George, it was a time when Americans had their rights usurped by the government. This is what catalyzed the need for the Fourth Amendment. The Framers explicitly wrote: “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects.” Today, any evidence collected through an illegal search, whether or not it provides direct proof of a crime, cannot be used as evidence in a trial. This is called the exclusionary rule. Steven Bond was on a Texas bus en route to his destination when the Border Patrol agent initiated a random search of a passenger's luggage for contraband. Steven Bond went through several judges and appeals and each ignored the illegal search. Until the case went to the Supreme Court. In the case of Bond v. United States, the Supreme Court ruled that the officer's search defied the Fourth Amendment and was therefore unconstitutional. In a criminal investigation, a search is only considered lawful if there is probable cause. The probable cause; however, cannot be considered valid without a search warrant. The framers of the Constitution knew that similar cases would eventually arise. Despite the foresight, the amendments require a mandate to prevent abuse by a powerful