We dedicated ourselves to a powerful idea - organic law rather than naked power. There seems to be universal acceptance of that idea in the nation.
Potter StewartRead
A person's mere propinquity to others independently suspected of criminal activity does not give rise to probable cause to search that person.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Association with suspected criminals is not enough to justify a search.
This quote by Potter Stewart emphasizes the legal principle that being near someone who is suspected of criminal activity does not automatically provide sufficient grounds for law enforcement to conduct a search on an individual. It underscores the importance of probable cause and the protection of personal rights against arbitrary searches.
Themes
LawPrivacyProbable CauseCivil RightsSearching
In practice
Example use cases
In a legal seminar discussing the importance of probable cause in searches.
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It must always be remembered that what the Constitution forbids is not all searches and seizures, but unreasonable searches and seizures.
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The 4th Amendment and the personal rights it secures have a long history. At the very core stands the right of a man to retreat into his own home and there be free from unreasonable governmental intrusion.
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For the Fourth Amendment protects people, not places. What a person knowingly exposes to the public, even in his own home or office, is not a subject of Fourth Amendment protection. But what he seeks to preserve as private, even in an area accessible to the public, may be constitutionally protected.
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