HISTORICAL CONTEXT- Fourth Amendment History
Fourth Amendment History/ Background
Starting in the early 1750's in the colony of Massachusetts, you can see the events happening that led to the Fourth Amendment. In 1756 the Massachusetts legislation barred the use of general warrants. This came from the public outcry against the Excise Act of 1754. This act gave tax collectors the ability to search the colonist's belongings without their permission. Before the Fourth Amendment it was the "Virginia Declaration of Rights" (forbid the use of general warrants). In 1780, John Adams declared that all searches must be reasonable as part of the Massachusetts constitution. Finally, on December 15, 1791 the Fourth Amendment was added to the Bill of Rights. If you don't know the Fourth Amendment already, it reads "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." This amendment to the constitution was extremely important back then and it remains to this day.
Important Case History-
You can see the use of the Fourth Amendment in court dates all the way back to the late 1800's. It is an extremely important case and has been used in court throughout history. The first court case recorded was the case of Boyd. vs. United States (1886). An extremely important case was Mapp vs. Ohio. This case was exremely important because it extended the Fourth Amendment from just federal government to both state and federal government. In the court case Katz vs. United States, a test was created that has been used throughout history ever since. This test involves a legal search that is legal by the Fourth Amendment. The test states "The government's actions must not infringe upon the person's subjective expectation of privacy and secondly, and that the expectation of privacy is reasonable"
How it relates to New Jersey vs. T.L.O. -
The Fourth Amendment was a huge factor in New Jersey vs. T.L.O. T.L.O. defended herself on the fact that principal Choplick did not have enough "reasonable cause" to search through her belongings. The supreme court decided that T.L.O. would be found guilty because Choplick did have enough reasonable suspicion after finding T.L.O's cigarettes in her purse. The result of this case has led to determine results of future cases as well as changing search rules in schools across the present U.S.