Friday, July 15, 2005
Fourth Amendment, anonymous publications, general warrants.
Over at the Volokh Conspiracy, Oren Kerr links to a short version (pdf) of his article on the fourth amendment. I liked his exploration of the early history and caselaw.
Wilkes v Wood was an early case in which a member of parliament was anonymously publishing anti-king literature. He recovered on a trespass action when his stuff was searched under a general warrant. I wanted to make a note of the case in reference to my anonymous literature cases. I haven't, yet, made 4th amendment claims in those cases, because they are so strongly winnable under the First Amendment, but I might want to do so in the future.
The defendants claimed a right, under precedents, to force persons houses, break open escrutores, seize their papers, &c. upon a general warrant, where no inventory is made of the things thus taken away, and where no offenders names are specified in the warrant, and therefore a discretionary power given to messengers to search wherever their suspicions may chance to fall. If such a power is truly invested in a Secretary of State, and he can delegate this power, it certainly may affect the person and property of every man in this kingdom, and is totally subversive of the liberty of the subject.
Over at the Volokh Conspiracy, Oren Kerr links to a short version (pdf) of his article on the fourth amendment. I liked his exploration of the early history and caselaw.
Wilkes v Wood was an early case in which a member of parliament was anonymously publishing anti-king literature. He recovered on a trespass action when his stuff was searched under a general warrant. I wanted to make a note of the case in reference to my anonymous literature cases. I haven't, yet, made 4th amendment claims in those cases, because they are so strongly winnable under the First Amendment, but I might want to do so in the future.
The defendants claimed a right, under precedents, to force persons houses, break open escrutores, seize their papers, &c. upon a general warrant, where no inventory is made of the things thus taken away, and where no offenders names are specified in the warrant, and therefore a discretionary power given to messengers to search wherever their suspicions may chance to fall. If such a power is truly invested in a Secretary of State, and he can delegate this power, it certainly may affect the person and property of every man in this kingdom, and is totally subversive of the liberty of the subject.
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