Source: http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/United_States_v._Lefkowitz/Opinion_of_the_Court
Timestamp: 2013-06-19 03:06:58
Document Index: 59764456

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 88', '§ 21', '§ 33', '§ 33', '§ 30', '§ 30']

United States v. Lefkowitz/Opinion of the Court - Wikisource, the free online library
United States v. Lefkowitz/Opinion of the Court
< United States v. Lefkowitz
United States v. Lefkowitz by Pierce Butler
United States v. Lefkowitz — Opinion of the Court Pierce Butler
Argued: April 11, 1932. ---
The commissioner issued his warrant, to which was attached a copy of the complaint, commanding the marshal and his deputies to arrest defendants. It was given to a deputy marshal for execution and he, the complaining witness, and three other prohibition agents went to room 604. The room was about ten feet wide and twenty feet long and was divided by a partition. In its outer portion, there were a stenographer's desk used by respondent Paris, a towel cabinet, and a waste basket, and in the inner part another desk and basket. When the deputy marshal and agents entered, Lefkowitz was in the room. The deputy marshal arrested him, and thereupon one of the prohibition agents searched and took from his person various papers and other things all of which were given to the deputy marshal and later turned over to the assistant United States attorney. The agents opened all the drawers of both desks, examined their contents, took therefrom and carried away books, papers, and other articles. [1] They also searched the towel cabinet and took papers from it. [2] There was no breaking as the desks and cabinet were not locked. They also took the contents of the baskets and later pasted together pieces of papers found therein. [3] Respondent Paris came in while the room was being searched, and the deputy marshal arrested her. All the searches and seizures were made without a search warrant. The prohibition agents delivered to the special agent in charge all the things taken from the desks, cabinet, and baskets. And, until delivered to the assistant United States attorney after Lefkowitz applied to the court for their suppression and return, they were held by the agent in charge for use in making further investigations concerning the conspiracy referred to in the complaint.
The District Court denied respondents' motions. It construed the complaint to charge felony under section 37 of the Criminal Code (18 USCA § 88) defining conspiracy and title 2, § 21 of the National Prohibition Act (27 USCA § 33) defining nuisance, held that each of the papers seized was, within the meaning of title 2, sections 21 and 22 (27 USCA §§ 33, 34), kept and used to maintain a nuisance; said that 'it is enough if the conspiracy was there or the petitioners or their associates had any of them gathered in the room to conduct the conspiracy or do any act to effect its object'; that 'it might well follow that, in the sense of the word as used in the Carroll Case (267 U.S. 132, 45 S.C.t. 280, 69 L. Ed. 543, 39 A. L. R. 790), supra, the seized papers were contraband'; and that 'it is not necessary, however, to determine that, for the reason that, at least within the Marron Case (275 U.S. 192, 48 S.C.t. 74, 72 L. Ed. 231) all the papers were but usual and ordinary means of carrying on a business of the character presented here.' 47 F.(2d) 921, 922.
The Circuit Court of Appeals reversed. 52 F.(2d) 52, 54. It found that the search of the person of Lefkowitz was lawful and that the things taken might be used as evidence against him, held that the things seized when the office and furniture were explored did not belong to the same class, referred to 'the firmly rooted proposition that what are called general exploratory searches throughout premises and personal property are forbidden,' and said that it did not matter 'whether the articles of personal property opened and the contents examined are numerous or few, the right of personal security, liberty and private property is violated if the search is general, for nothing specific, but for whatever the containers may hide from view, and is based only on the eagerness of officers to get hold of whatever evidence they may be able to bring to light. * * * Such a search and seizure as these officers indulged themselves in is not like that in Marron v. United States * * * where things openly displayed to view were picked up by the officers and taken away at the time an arrest was made. The decision that does control is Go-Bart Co. v. United States, 282 U.S. 344, 51 S.C.t. 153, 75 L. Ed. 374. Indeed, this case differs in its essential facts from that one so slightly that what is said in that opinion in characterizing the search made will apply with equal force to this one, which must accordingly be held unreasonable.'
It is clear that respondents were arrested in the proper execution of the warrant, and not by officers acting without a warrant merely upon probable cause to believe that respondents were guilty of a felonious conspiracy. The offense charged involved the use of the room only to solicit orders for liquor, to cause it to be delivered, to collect for it and divide proceeds. There is nothing in the record to support the claim that at the time of the arrest, the offense for which the warrant issued or any other crime was being committed in the presence of the officers. It cannot be claimed that they saw conspiracy being committed or that any understanding, agreement, or combination was being had, made, or formed in their presence. Go-Bart Co. v. United States, supra, 282 U.S. 357, 51 S.C.t. 153, 75 L. Ed. 374. The maintenance of a nuisance or conspiracy to maintain one is not involved. The complaint did not attempt or purport to charge either. It did not allege that the room was a place where liquor was or ever had been manufactured, sold, kept, or bartered, or that it contained fixtures or other things essential or intended to be used for the sale of liquor to be consumed on the premises or otherwise. The mere soliciting of orders from the room in connection with the other uses alleged in the complaint is not sufficient to constitute the maintenance of nuisance therein. See sections 18, 21, and 22, title 2, National Prohibition Act, 27 U.S.C. §§ 30, 33 and 34 (27 USCA §§ 30, 33, 34); Miller v. United States (C. C. A.) 300 F. 529, 535; Schechter v. United States (C. C. A.) 7 F.(2d) 881. Cf. Todd v. United States (C. C. A.) 48 F.(2d) 530, 532. The facts and circumstances stated in the affidavits of the prohibition agents do not support but are inconsistent with and negative the assertions therein contained to the effect that respondents were arrested while commiting the crime of conspiracy or nuisance.
The Fourth Amendment forbids every search that is unreasonable and is construed liberally to safeguard the right of privacy. Byars v. United States, 273 U.S. 28, 32, 47 S.C.t. 248, 71 L. Ed. 520. Its protection extends to offenders as well as to the law abiding. Weeks v. United States, 232 U.S. 383, 34 S.C.t. 341, 58 L. Ed. 652, L. R. A. 1915B, 834, Ann. Cas. 1915C, 1177; Agnello v. United States, 269 U.S. 20, 32, 46 S.C.t. 4, 70 L. Ed. 145, 51 A. L. R. 409. The authority of officers to search one's house or place of business contemporaneously with his lawful arrest therein upon a valid warrant of arrest certainly is not greater than that conferred by a search warrant issued upon adequate proof and sufficiently describing the premises and the things sought to be obtained. Indeed, the informed and deliberate determinations of magistrates empowered to issue warrants as to what searches and seizures are permissible under the Constitution are to be preferred over the hurried action of officers and others who may happen to make arrests. Security against unlawful searches is more likely to be attained by resort to search warrants than by reliance upon the caution and sagacity of petty officers while acting under the excitement that attends the capture of persons accused of crime. United States v. Kirschenblatt (C. C. A.) 16 F.(2d) 202, 203, 51 A. L. R. 416; Go-Bart Co. v. United States, supra, 282 U.S. 358, 51 S.C.t. 153, 75 L. Ed. 374.
Respondents' papers were wanted by the officers solely for use as evidence of crime of which respondents were accused or suspected. They could not lawfully be searched for and taken even under a search warrant issued upon ample evidence and precisely describing such things and disclosing exactly where they were. Gouled v. United States, 255 U.S. 298, 310, 41 S.C.t. 261, 65 L. Ed. 647.
Here, the searches were exploratory and general and made solely to find evidence of respondents' guilt of the alleged conspiracy or some other crime. Though intended to be used to solicit orders for liquor in violation of the act, the papers and other articles found and taken were in themselves unoffending. The decisions of this court distinguish searches of one's house, office, papers or effects merely to get evidence to convict him of crime from searches such as those made to find stolen goods for return to the owner, to take property that has been forfeited to the government, to discover property concealed to avoid payment of duties for which it is liable, and from searches such as those made for the seizure of counterfeit coins, burglars' tools, gambling paraphernalia, and illicit liquor in order to prevent the commission of crime. Boyd v. United States, 116 U.S. 616 et seq., 6 S.C.t. 524, 29 L. Ed. 746; Weeks v. United States, 232 U.S. 383, 395, 34 S.C.t. 341, 58 L. Ed. 652, L. R. A. 1915B, 834, Ann. Cas. 1915C, 1177; Gouled v. United States, supra, 255 U.S. 306, 41 S.C.t. 261, 65 L. Ed. 647; Carroll v. United States, supra.
The teachings of that great case were cherished by our statesmen when the Constitution was adopted. In Boyd v. United States, supra, 116 U.S. 630, 6 S.C.t. 524, 532, 29 L. Ed. 746, this court said: 'The principles laid down in this opinion (Entick v. Carrington) affect the very essence of constitutional liberty and security. * * * They apply to all invasions on the part of the government and its employees of the sanctity of a man's home and the privacies of life. * * * Any forcible and compulsory extraction of a man's own testimony, or of his private papers to be used as evidence to convict him of crime, or to forfeit his goods, is within the condemnation of that judgment. In this regard the fourth and fifth amendments run almost into each other.' And this court has always construed provisions of the Constitution having regard to the principles upon which it was established. The direct operation or literal meaning of the words used do not measure the purpose or scope of its provisions. McCulloch v. Maryland, 4 Wheat. 316, 406, 407, 421, 4 L. Ed. 579; Boyd v. United States, supra; Byars v. United States, ubi supra.
^1 From the outer desk were taken:
^2 Several typewriten loose-leaf sheets unbound bearing names and addresses of numerous people throughout the United States.
^3 The writings made by pasting together plecess of paper taken from the baskets were:
Retrieved from "http://en.wikisource.org/w/index.php?title=United_States_v._Lefkowitz/Opinion_of_the_Court&oldid=3027942"	Category: PD-USGovHidden categories: SubpagesCase missing lower courtCase missing decision dateCase missing case numberUnited States Supreme Court decisions in Volume 285Footnotes using custom labels	Navigation menu
This page was last modified on 28 June 2011, at 14:35.