Most people think that cops have all the power in the world. Some people even tremble in fear when talking to cops. What most people don't know is that the cops operate strictly on the state laws, sometimes they don't take into account the federal laws that protect us and our constitutional rights. The Fourth Amendment protects our privacy rights and entitles, "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 means that the police can not search anything that we own, unless the cops have probable cause or a direct warrant to search the area. Probable cause can be something like seeing illegal activity or illegal items. A warrant from the court looks like this.
If handed a document like that then the police have a direct order to search whatever and whenever they want. There was a family from Los Angeles California that recently sued two detectives for violating their fourth amendment rights. The family's house was searched unlawfully by the two cops because of suspicion of narcotics in the house. The two cops barged in, put the Thomas brothers and the son Eric Brown in handcuffs. They then ripped apart the entire room, throwing their personal belongings all over the place and breaking some of their possessions. The three boys were taken into the station after the detectives found nothing in the house. The Thomas brothers were let go, but Eric Brown was arrested under suspicion of possession of narcotics.
The family immediately hired an attorney, and the attorney told them that the cops violated their civil rights. The cops had no probable cause to search the house and they also had no search warrant. Suspicion of something is not probable cause. They searched the entire house all on the suspicion of possession of narcotics which is not legal. The family went to court against the two detectives and ended up winning because the court found that their Fourth Amendment rights were violated. Eric Brown was released, and the family was granted $15,000 for the damages and for their rights that were violated.
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