The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution is clear and unequivocal in its language: “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 was designed to protect individuals from government overreach, ensuring that private property could not be searched or seized arbitrarily. Evidence obtained in violation of these protections is typically excluded from court under what is known as the exclusionary rule , first firmly established in Weeks v. United States, 232 U.S. 383 (1914) and later applied to the states in Mapp v. Ohio, 367 U.S. 643 (1961). However, over the past two centuries, the protections promised by the Fourth Amendment have been significantly eroded through numerous...