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Time Travel, Hovercrafts, And The Fourth Amendment: If James Madison Could Have Seen The Future, George C. Thomas
Time Travel, Hovercrafts, And The Fourth Amendment: If James Madison Could Have Seen The Future, George C. Thomas
ExpressO
Recent historical work has raised the intriguing possibility that the Framers meant to accomplish only one goal in the Fourth Amendment: to forbid general warrants. On this historical account, the first clause stating a right of the people to be "free from unreasonable searches and seizures" is merely declaratory of the principle that led the Framers to ban general warrants. Rephrased to be true to this history, the Fourth Amendment would say: "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against general warrants shall not be violated, and no general warrants shall issue." …