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Covert, Delayed Notice Searches: A Constitutional And Policy Failure—And A Solution, Jonathan Witmer-Rich

Jonathan Witmer-Rich

Over the past decade, law enforcement officials have conducted covert searches of American homes and businesses at a dramatically increasing rate. In some cases, investigators also seize evidence, keeping the search covert by staging the seizure to look like a burglary. These covert searches were authorized by the USA Patriot Act, through the use of delayed notice search warrants. The number of covert, delayed notice warrants has skyrocketed in the past five years, from around 175 in 2006 to 3,700 in 2011. About ten percent of all federal search warrants are now delayed notice warrants.This article describes the legal evolution …