We the People: Search and Seizure

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NPR

Documentary, History, Society & Culture

4.7 • 15K Ratings

🗓️ 29 May 2025

⏱️ 49 minutes

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Summary

The Fourth Amendment is the part of the Bill of Rights that prohibits "unreasonable searches and seizures." But — what's unreasonable? That question has fueled a century's worth of court rulings that have dramatically expanded the power of individual police officers in the U.S. Today on the show, how an amendment that was supposed to limit government power has ended up enabling it. This episode originally published in 2024.

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0:00.0	Support for NPR and the following message come from the Walton Family Foundation,
0:05.1	working to create access to opportunity for people and communities by tackling tough social and environmental problems.
0:12.0	More information is at walton family foundation.org.
0:16.3	James Otis, speech against ritz of Assistance, 1761.
0:23.6	A man's house is his castle.
0:35.6	And while he is quiet, he is as well guarded as a prince in his castle.
0:44.0	This writ, if it should be declared, legal would totally annihilate this privilege.
0:52.3	Custom house officers may enter our houses when they please.
0:57.0	Open up!
0:58.0	They are commanded to permit their entry.
1:01.0	Their menial servants may enter, may break locks, bars, and everything in their way.
1:09.0	And whether they break through malice or revenge, no man, no court can inquire.
1:17.6	Their suspicion without oath is sufficient. It's now the roaring 20s, 1921, to be exact.
1:51.1	Prohibition is in full swing.
1:53.5	Selling and transporting alcohol is illegal.
1:56.7	So you have three prohibition agents and a state, basically, traffic law enforcer,
2:02.5	just hanging out by the highways, watching out for things, being on the lookout.
2:09.0	And they see an Oldsmobile Roadster driving by.
2:13.3	Oldsmobile Roadster at the time was about triple the price of a basic model T.
2:19.0	So this was kind of a fancy car that the agents could pick out.
2:23.3	One of the Prohibition agents gasps.
2:26.6	Like, I think that's Carol's car.
	...

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