Weeks v. United States
| Weeks v. United States | ||||||
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 Supreme Court of the United States |
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| Argued December 2–3, 1913 Decided February 24, 1914 |
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| Full case name | Fremont Weeks v. United States | |||||
| Citations | 232 U.S. 383 (more) 34 S. Ct. 341; 58 L. Ed. 652; 1914 U.S. LEXIS 1368 |
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| Prior history | Defendant convicted, W.D. Mo. Error to the District Court of the United States for the Western District of Missouri | |||||
| Holding | ||||||
| The warrantless seizure of documents from a private home violated the Fourth Amendment prohibition against unreasonable searches and seizures, and evidence obtained in this manner is excluded from use in federal criminal prosecutions. Western District of Missouri reversed and remanded. | ||||||
| Court membership | ||||||
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| Case opinions | ||||||
| Majority | Day, joined by unanimous court | |||||
| Laws applied | ||||||
| U.S. Const. amend. IV | ||||||
In Weeks v. United States, 232 U.S. 383 (1914), the United States Supreme Court unanimously held that the warrantless seizure of items from a private residence constitutes a violation of the Fourth Amendment.[1] It also prevented local officers from securing evidence by means prohibited under the federal exclusionary rule and giving it to their federal colleagues. It was not until the case of Mapp v.Ohio(1961)that the exclusionary rule was deemed to apply to state courts as well.</ref>
Contents |
[edit] Background of the case
[edit] Why police searched
[edit] Arrest and conviction of Weeks
Fremont Weeks was arrested in Kansas City, Missouri by a law enforcement officer. During the apprehension, the arresting officer performed a search of Weeks's home, although he did not have a search warrant. The search turned up evidence of violation of federal law, whereby U.S. mail was used to send lottery tickets. Encouraged by the results of the search of Weeks’s home, a United States marshal, together with a local police officer and a federal postal inspector, searched Weeks’s residence for the second time (again without a warrant), and seized some letters and documents. Weeks filed a complaint in order to retrieve the papers, and petitioned to have the illegally seized evidence excluded from the trial. Weeks was given some, but not all of his property.
[edit] References
- ^ The Fourth Amendment states: "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, bet supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."
[edit] External links
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