The Short ConstitutionWade, Martin J. (Martin Joseph)
History
The Short Constitution
Wade, Martin J. (Martin Joseph)
United States. Constitution
Of course it is apparent that so long as we have crimes committed the
wrongdoer must be punished. Wrongdoers naturally try to conceal the
evidence of their crimes: the murderer seeks to hide the revolver, the
thief seeks to hide the money, the bonds, or the jewels. So it is
necessary, in order to find criminals and to recover valuable things they
may have taken, to have the privilege of searching persons or houses. But
the thing which the Constitution guarantees is that no such search shall
be made except upon warrants issued by some court, which are commands to a
peace officer to seize a certain person (arrest him) or to search a
certain house or other place for things which might aid in administering
justice. No warrants shall be issued by any court until some one has
appeared and filed a solemn statement under oath showing some reasonable
grounds for believing that the search or seizure will disclose evidence of
the offense. The place must be described. The things or the persons to be
seized must be described. A warrant issued by any court, no matter how
high, without such a sworn statement being presented, is void and in
violation of the rights of every person under the Constitution. The courts
are often called upon to enforce this right of the people. The home,
especially under our Constitution, is recognized as sacred. “Every man’s
house is his castle” and wherever, without the proper warrant, search or
seizure is made, the court will promptly punish the wrongdoer and if
something has been seized or taken possession of wrongfully the court will
order it returned. Even though valuable as evidence of guilt, the court
will not permit it to be used, if it has been seized in violation of the
guaranty of the Constitution.
No matter how humble the home, whether it be owned or rented, whether it
have one room or a dozen, it stands exactly the same under this
constitutional provision, and is guarded against “unreasonable searches
and seizures”. No matter how poor the owner, he can stand at his door and
defy all the officers of State or government, yes, and all the soldiers of
the republic, defy them to enter until the provisions of the Constitution
of the United States shall have been complied with.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account