Task: songer_origin

What follows is an opinion from a United States Court of Appeals. Your task is to identify the type of court which made the original decision. Code cases removed from a state court as originating in federal district court. For "State court", include habeas corpus petitions after conviction in state court and petitions from courts of territories other than the U.S. District Courts. For "Special DC court", include courts other than the US District Court for DC. For "Other", include courts such as the Tax Court and a court martial.

DAVID R. THOMPSON, Circuit Judge:
Rene Martin Verdugo-Urquidez is in custody awaiting trial on twenty counts of a forty-one-count indictment returned against him and thirty-eight other defendants. The indictment charges Verdugo-Urquidez with numerous narcotics and narcotics-related criminal violations, including conspiracy to import multi-ton quantities of marijuana into the United States, possession with intent to distribute multi-ton quantities of marijuana, and engaging in an on-going criminal enterprise. Verdugo-Urquidez’s presence in the United States is the result of his arrest by Mexican police officers in Mexico and his delivery by them, across the border, into the waiting arms of the United States government. Verdugo-Urquidez challenged the district court’s jurisdiction over him because of the manner in which the United States obtained his custody. The district court rejected this contention, and Verdugo-Urquidez has not sought to appeal that ruling. The government appeals from the district court’s order suppressing certain evidence obtained by United States Drug Enforcement Agency (“DEA”) agents during their search of Ver-dugo-Urquidez’s residence in Mexicali, Mexico.
The government raises two major arguments on appeal. First, the government contends that Verdugo-Uriquidez, a Mexican national, may not invoke the fourth amendment to the Constitution to challenge the DEA’s actions in searching his Mexicali home. In the alternative, the government argues that even if the fourth amendment extends to Verdugo-Uriquidez, the evidence seized nonetheless should have been admitted because the DEA agents reasonably relied on assurances of Mexican officials that the search was permissible under Mexican law, and the search was carried out in a reasonable manner. We have jurisdiction of this interlocutory appeal under 18 U.S.C. § 3731. We conclude that Verdu-go-Urquidez is entitled to the protections of the fourth amendment, and that the district court properly suppressed the evidence obtained in the search of his Mexicali residence.
I
FACTS
Rene Martin Verdugo-Urquidez is reputed to be a drug smuggler and a killer. The DEA believes him to be one of the leaders of a large and violent organization based in Mexico, which smuggles large quantities of marijuana, cocaine and heroin into the United States. The DEA also believes Verdu-go-Urquidez to have participated in the brutal and revolting kidnapping and torture-murder of DEA Special Agent Enrique Camarena Salazar. If these allegations are proved true at trial, there is little doubt that Verdugo-Urquidez’s conduct has placed him beyond the pale of civilized society. But in this country, a person is presumed innocent until proven guilty. We would not permit a jury to discard this fundamental precept of criminal law simply because the accused is charged with a serious crime. Likewise, we will not allow ourselves to be swayed by the DEA’s suspicions, no matter how well founded, or by the government’s repeated assertions, that Verdugo-Urquidez is in some way responsible for the death of Special Agent Ca-marena.
Since the late 1970s, the DEA has kept abreast of Verdugo-Urquidez’s alleged activities as a drug smuggler. Based on an informant’s tip that Verdugo-Urquidez planned to transport several tons of marijuana into the United States, the DEA filed a sealed complaint against him on August 3, 1985, charging him with various violations of the criminal laws of the United States. Based on this complaint, the United States District Court for the Southern District of California issued a warrant for his arrest. Thereafter, the DEA stepped up its investigation efforts and attempted to apprehend Verdugo-Urquidez on one of his frequent trips to the United States. Unable to locate him in this country, the DEA confirmed that Verdugo-Urquidez resided in Mexicali, Mexico, and contacted the United States Marshals Service to determine whether it would be feasible for Mexican authorities to apprehend Verdugo-Ur-quidez in Mexico and deliver him to the United States for trial.
In January 1986, the United States Marshals Service contacted Mexican law enforcement officers, who advised the Service that Verdugo-Urquidez could be arrested by Mexican officers in Mexico, provided there was an outstanding United States warrant for his arrest. The Marshals showed the Mexican officers the warrant for Verdugo-Urquidez’s arrest. The district court found that the following events then took place: On January 24, 1986, while driving his car in San Felipe, Baja California, Mexico, Verdugo-Urquidez was stopped by six Mexican police officers, at least one of whom showed him a badge. Verdugo-Urquidez was ordered from his car, arrested, handcuffed and placed in the back seat of the Mexican officers’ unmarked car. With his hands still cuffed behind his back, the police forced Verdugo-Urquidez to lie face down on the car seat, with his head covered by his jacket. For most of the two-hour ride to the Mexiean-American border, Verdugo-Urquidez either lay on the seat covered with his jacket or lay there blindfolded. At no time did the Mexican police officers explain to Verdu-go-Urquidez where they were going or why he had been arrested. When the Mexican officers arrived at the border, they removed Verdugo-Urquidez from their car and walked him to where United States Marshals waited. The Marshals placed Verdugo-Urquidez under arrest and drove him to the United States Border Patrol station in Calexico, California. The Marshals then phoned the DEA’s resident agent in Calexico, Terry Bowen, who testified he had been waiting for the call informing him of Verdugo-Urquidez’s arrest. The DEA took custody of Verdugo-Urqui-dez and delivered him to the Metropolitan Correctional Center in San Diego, California, where he remains incarcerated pending trial.
After the DEA took custody of Verdugo-Urquidez, Agent Bowen discussed with his fellow officers the prospect of searching Verdugo-Urquidez’s house in Mexico. Agent Bowen believed that a search of Verdugo-Urquidez’s Mexicali residence would disclose cash proceeds from his smuggling operations, as well as documentary evidence of those transactions, including drug ledgers and phone books listing the names and addresses of his associates. Agent Bowen also hoped that the search would disclose information relevant to the Camarena investigation. Agent Bowen contacted Walter White, the Assistant Special Agent in charge of DEA operations in Mexico. Agent Bowen and Special Agent White discussed the arrest of Verdugo-Ur-quidez and the possibility of a DEA search of Verdugo-Urquidez’s Mexicali residence. Special Agent White told Agent Bowen that he would make some phone calls and would see what could be done.
Thereafter, Agent Bowen received Special Agent White’s approval to search the Mexicali residence. On January 25, 1988, a team of four DEA agents drove to Mexicali, Mexico, where they met with the local commandante of the Mexican Federal Judicial Police (MFJP). With the help of several MFJP officers, the DEA searched Verdu-go-Urquidez’s Mexicali residence, as well as a house owned by Verdugo-Urquidez located in San Felipe, Baja California, Mexico. The search of the Mexicali residence disclosed a tally sheet, which purportedly reflects the quantities of marijuana smuggled into the United States by Verdugo-Ur-quidez.
Verdugo-Urquidez moved to suppress the evidence seized from his Mexicali residence. After a hearing, the court concluded that the fourth amendment to the Constitution applied to the DEA’s search because it was a “joint venture” of the American and Mexican police officers. Furthermore, the court held that a foreign national is entitled to seek the suppression of evidence seized by American officers during a search conducted in a foreign country on the ground that the search violates the norms established by the fourth amendment. The district court then suppressed the evidence seized by the DEA because it concluded the search was invalid for two reasons: First, the DEA failed to seek a warrant authorizing the search. Second, even if a warrant was not required to authorize the search, the DEA’s conduct in carrying out that search was not reasonable because the search was unconstitutionally general, it occurred after midnight and the DEA failed to leave a contemporaneous inventory of the evidence seized. The government appeals.
II
ANALYSIS
Applicability of Fourth Amendment
The threshold issue we confront is whether a foreign national whose foreign residence has been searched by United States law enforcement officers may challenge that search under the fourth amendment. Strangely enough, this question has not yet been answered by the Supreme Court or definitively resolved by any circuit court of appeals. Indeed, until this case, we have been content simply to assume that the fourth amendment constrains the manner in which the federal government may pursue its extraterritorial law enforcement objectives. See, e.g., United States v. Peterson, 812 F.2d 486, 489 (9th Cir.1987).
1. The Fourth Amendment Limits Government Action Abroad
We begin our analysis with a proposition so reasonable and unremarkable that most people would find it bizarre indeed to learn that the rule has ever been otherwise:
The United States is entirely a creature of the Constitution. Its power and authority have no other source. It can only act in accordance with all the limitations imposed by the Constitution. When the Government reaches out to punish a citizen who is abroad, the shield which the Bill of Rights and other parts of the Constitution provide to protect his life and liberty should not be stripped away just because he happens to be in another country.
Reid v. Covert, 354 U.S. 1, 5-6, 77 S.Ct. 1222, 1225, 1 L.Ed.2d 1148 (1957) (plurality opinion) (footnotes omitted); see also id. at 56, 77 S.Ct. at 1251 (Frankfurter, J., concurring in the result) (“Governmental action abroad is performed under both the authority and the restrictions of the Constitution.”); cf. id. at 66, 77 S.Ct. at 1256 (Harlan, J., concurring in the result) (“The powers of Congress... are constitutionally circumscribed. Under the Constitution Congress has only such powers as are expressly granted or those that are implied as reasonably necessary and proper to carry out the granted powers.”). And yet, for a time, it was settled law that the Constitution applied “only to citizens and others within the United States, or who are brought there for trial for alleged offenses committed elsewhere, and not to residents or temporary sojourners abroad.” In re Ross, 140 U.S. 453, 464, 11 S.Ct. 897, 900, 35 L.Ed. 581 (1891) (emphasis added). This was said to be so because “[b]y the Constitution, a government is ordained and established ‘for the United States of America,’ and not for countries outside of their limits.... [Therefore, the] Constitution can have no operation in another country.” Id. (citations omitted). The Supreme Court soon rejected this constrictive interpretation of the Constitution in favor of a more expansive vision of its reach. See, e.g., Balzac v. Porto Rico, 258 U.S. 298, 312-13, 42 S.Ct. 343, 348, 66 L.Ed. 627 (1922) (“The Constitution of the United States is in force in Porto Rico [sic] as it is wherever and whenever the sovereign power of that government is exerted.”). In its Reid decision, the Court extended the Constitution’s application to acts by the federal government in a foreign country. Reid, 354 U.S. at 7-9, 77 S.Ct. at 1225-26; see also Note, The Extraterritorial Application of the Constitution—Unalienable Rights?, 72 Va.L.Rev. 649, 659 (1986) (“[T]he Reid decision... represents the abandonment of the nineteenth century concept of strict territoriality.”). In so construing the reach of the Constitution, a plurality of the Court rejected the notion that “only those constitutional rights which are ‘fundamental’ protect Americans abroad.” Reid, 354 U.S. at 9, 77 S.Ct. at 1226 (plurality opinion) (footnote omitted).
From these cases, a proposition of enormous vitality may be drawn: The Constitution imposes substantive constraints on the federal government, even when it operates abroad. See, e.g., Saltzburg, The Reach of the Bill of Rights Beyond the Terra Firma of the United States, 20 Va.J.Int’l L. 741, 745 (1980) (“Wherever and whenever the [federal government] acts it relies on the Constitution as the source of its powers. Whenever it acts, it must, therefore, accept the limits on its power imposed by the... Constitution_ Thus, the Bill of Rights controls the activities of U.S. law enforcement officers wherever they occur.”). In applying these substantive constitutional constraints, it is important to recall that
[t]he concept that the Bill of Rights and other constitutional protections against arbitrary government are inoperative when they become inconvenient or when expediency dictates otherwise is a very dangerous doctrine and if allowed to flourish would destroy the benefit of a written Constitution and undermine the basis of our Government.
Reid, 354 U.S. at 14, 77 S.Ct. at 1229 (plurality opinion). Thus, in the context of this case, which involves the aggressive and laudable pursuit by the federal government of a legitimate law enforcement objective— the apprehension and prosecution of a suspected drug dealer of the worst sort — we also must take great pains to ensure that the Constitution does not become the first casualty in the “War on Drugs.” See Wi-sotsky, Crackdown: The Emerging “Drug Exception” to the Bill of Rights, 38 Hastings L.J. 889 (1987). See generally Kami-sar, “Comparative Reprehensibility” and the Fourth Amendment Exclusionary Rule, 86 Mich.L.Rev. 1 (1987).
2. Aliens Brought to United States for Criminal Trials May Challenge Federal Government’s Conduct under Fourth Amendment
Having concluded that the Constitution limits the government’s authority when it acts abroad, we must address the key question in this case: May a nonresident alien challenge the reasonableness of the federal government’s actions under the fourth amendment? Under the facts of the present case, we hold that such a challenge may be raised.
The government’s position in this case derives from a vision of the Constitution as a compact between the people of the United States and the federal government. This theory espouses the view that the Constitution should be regarded as a reciprocal arrangement between “The People” and the federal government. See U.S. Const, preamble (“WE THE PEOPLE of the United States... do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”). That is, “The People” cede to their government substantial authority over them in exchange for which the government agrees to abide by the limitations imposed on it by the Constitution. Verdu-go-Urquidez is a nonresident alien. The compact theory tells us, then, that because Verdugo-Urquidez is not one of “The Peo-pie” to whom the promise of the Constitution runs, he has no right to complain of governmental action in excess of that permitted by the Constitution.
This compact theory of the Constitution has deep roots in our nation’s history. The interpretation of the Constitution as a contract also has found some expression in the courts. See, e.g., Chisholm v. Georgia, 2 U.S. (2 Dall.) 419, 471, 1 L.Ed. 440 (1793) (opinion of Jay, C.J.) (“[T]he constitution of the United States is likewise a compact made by the people of the United States, to govern themselves, as to general objects, in a certain manner.”); McCulloch v. Maryland, 17 U.S. (4 Wheat.) 316, 404, 4 L.Ed. 579 (1819) (Marshall, C.J.) (“The government of the Union... is, emphatically and truly, a government of the people. In form, and in substance, it emanates from them. Its powers are granted by them, and are to be exercised directly on them, and for their benefit.”); League v. De Young, 52 U.S. (11 How.) 185, 202, 13 L.Ed. 657 (1850) (“The Constitution of the United States was made by, and for the protection of, the people of the United States.”); In re Ross, 140 U.S. 453, 464, 11 S.Ct. 897, 900, 35 L.Ed. 581 (1891) (“By the Constitution a government is ordained and established ‘for the United States of America,’ and not for countries outside of their limits.... The Constitution can have no operation in another country.” (citation omitted)). The compact theory also has its adherents in the academic world. See, e.g., Stephan, Constitutional Limits on International Rendition of Criminal Suspects, 20 Va.J.Int’l L. 777, 782 (1980) (observing that there is a “long held understanding that, in general, foreign nationals abroad are neither parties to nor beneficiaries of the agreement between the federal government and its people embodied in the Constitution”).
Notwithstanding these sources, we are not persuaded that the compact theory is a legitimate mode for applying the Constitution in this ease. This is so for three reasons we discuss hereafter: First, the historical evidence is equivocal and many sources may be cited in support of a broader interpretation of the Constitution. Second, the Supreme Court cases discussed above address the distinct problem of the relationship between the states and the federal government, and therefore provide little help in deciding how the federal government may act when it pursues extraterritorial objectives. Finally, decisions of the Supreme Court extending certain constitutional protections to aliens in other contexts show that the compact theory has been severely limited in its scope.
a. The Historical Record
As we have noted, there are historical sources that support the compact theory of the Constitution. These sources, however, reflect only part of the philosophical concerns reflected in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. There are many historical records and commentaries explaining that Americans of the Revolutionary Era held a deeply-felt belief in the “natural rights” of man. Indeed, one need look no further than the Declaration of Independence, with its references to “the laws of nature” and “inalienable rights.” See Declaration of Independence (1776), reprinted in 1 B. Schwartz, The Bill of Rights: A Documentary History 251-52 (1971).
Further historical evidence of the “natural rights” theory abounds. For example, the various states’ declarations of rights that served as the forerunners of our Bill of Rights again and again emphasize that the government is to respect the individual’s natural rights. Thus, the preamble to the Vermont Declaration of Rights explains that “all government ought to be instituted and supported, for the security and protection of the community, as such, and to enable the individuals who compose it, to enjoy their natural rights, and the other blessings which the Author of existence has bestowed upon man.” Vermont Declaration of Rights (1777), reprinted in 1 B. Schwartz, supra, at 319. And in enumerating the rights enjoyed by the inhabitants of Vermont, we find
That the people have a right to hold themselves, their houses, papers and possessions free from search or seizure; and therefore warrants, without oaths or affirmations first made, affording a sufficient foundation for them, and whereby any officer or messenger may be commanded or required to search suspected places, or to seize any person or persons, his, her or their property, not particularly described, are contrary to that right, and ought not to be granted.
Id. c.1, art. XI, reprinted in 1 B. Schwartz, supra, at 323.
A number of other sources, from the nineteenth century to the present, support an interpretation of the Constitution that emphasizes an intent to prevent arbitrary encroachment by government on these “natural rights.” See, e.g., II J. Kent, Commentaries on American Law 1 (New York 1827) (“The absolute rights of individuals may be resolved into the right of personal security, the right of personal liberty, and the right to acquire and enjoy property. These rights have been justly considered, and frequently declared, by the people of this country, to be natural, inherent, and unalienable.”). As Professor Schwartz also has explained:
The dominant conception when the Framers wrote was that stated in Blackstone: “By the absolute rights of individuals, we mean those which are so in their primary and strictest sense; such as would belong to their persons merely in a state of nature, and which every man is entitled to enjoy, whether out of society or in it.”
III B. Schwartz, A Commentary on the Constitution of the United States: Rights of the Person (Volume 1) 170 (1968) (emphasis in original; footnote omitted). See generally Grey, Origins of the Unwritten Constitution: Fundamental Law in American Revolutionary Thought, 30 Stan.L.Rev. 843 (1978); Henkin, Rights: Here and There, 81 Colum.L.Rev. 1582, 1584-90 (1981); Note, supra, 72 Va.L.Rev. at 650 n. 8 (collecting sources). Thus, while the Framers may have used the phrase “compact” to explain the political theory by which the federal government was created, history also teaches that the Founders believed the Constitution would protect their inalienable rights.
Justice Story in his Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States cast considerable doubt on the validity of the compact theory. For instance, Justice Story found it peculiar to think of the Constitution as a contract because constitutions “are not only not founded upon the assent of all the people within the territorial jurisdiction, but that assent is expressly excluded by... [restricting] ratification... to those, who are qualified voters.” 1 J. Story, Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States § 327, at 296-97 (Boston 1833). Thus, the Constitution may not be treated as a contract because it purports to bind those who did not assent to it, were not permitted to assent to it and, as well, those born after its ratification. Id. § 328, at 297-98. Justice Story concluded that if the Constitution protects all “The People” of the United States, as it surely does, the protection it gives them cannot derive solely from a contract theory.
It would, indeed, be an extraordinary use of language to consider a declaration of rights in a constitution, and especially of rights, which it proclaims to be “unalienable and indefeasible,” to be a matter of contract, and resting on such a basis, rather than a solemn recognition and admission of those rights, arising from the law of nature, and the gift of Providence, and incapable of being transferred or surrendered.
Id. § 340, at 309 (emphasis in original).
b. “Compact” Theory in the Supreme Court
Earlier in this opinion, we cited four Supreme Court eases which explained that the Constitution is a compact between the people and the federal government. These cases, however, provide scant guidance in deciding whether the fourth amendment permits Verdugo-Urquidez to challenge an unreasonable search of his Mexicali residence by the federal government. In three of these cases, the Court considered some aspect of the relationship between the states and the federal government. E.g., Chisholm v. Georgia, 2 U.S. (2 Dall.) 419, 1 L.Ed. 440 (1793) (considering whether a state may be sued in the Supreme Court by an individual citizen of another state); McCulloch v. Maryland, 17 U.S. (4 Wheat.) 316, 4 L.Ed. 579 (1819) (holding that a state may not tax an instrumentality of the federal government properly created by Congress in pursuit of an enumerated power); League v. De Young, 52 U.S. (11 How.) 185, 13 L.Ed. 657 (1850) (holding that a statute passed pursuant to the Constitution of the Republic of Texas could not be challenged as unconstitutional because, until Texas joined the Union, it was a sovereign power not bound by the United States Constitution). Each case involved problems of federalism. The Supreme Court used the compact theory to explain that by ratifying the Constitution, the states surrendered some of their authority to the federal government. Thus, these cases cannot be considered authoritative on the question whether the Constitution applies to the extraterritorial acts of the federal government. Neither do they explain who may assert the protections of the fourth amendment.
Unlike the three cases previously mentioned, In re Ross, 140 U.S. 453, 11 S.Ct. 897, 35 L.Ed. 581 (1891), was one of a different line of cases in which the Court considered the extraterritorial application of the Constitution. The Court held in Ross that because the Constitution applies only within the United States, the trial of an American citizen in an American consular court neither required indictment by a grand jury nor a jury trial. See id. at 464, 11 S.Ct. at 900. But, as we explained supra in subpart 11(A)(1), the Ross case is no longer good law in light of Reid v. Covert, 354 U.S. 1, 77 S.Ct. 1222, 1 L.Ed.2d 1148 (1957). See Reid, 354 U.S. at 5-6, 77 S.Ct. at 1224-25 (plurality opinion); id. at 56, 77 S.Ct. at 1251 (Frankfurter, J., concurring in the result). Moreover, the Ross decision actually supports Verdugo-Urquidez’s argument that the fourth amendment applies to him.
The guarantees [the Constitution] affords against accusation of capital or infamous crimes, except by indictment or presentment by grand jury, and for an impartial trial by a jury when thus accused, apply only to citizens and others within the United States, or who are brought there for trial for alleged offenses committed elsewhere, and not to residents or temporary sojourners abroad.
Ross, 140 U.S. at 464, 11 S.Ct. at 900 (emphasis added).
c. Constitutional Protections for Aliens
A number of cases have extended constitutional protections to resident aliens. See, e.g., Yick Wo v. United States, 118 U.S. 356, 369, 6 S.Ct. 1064, 1070, 30 L.Ed. 220 (1886) (extending fourteenth amendment to resident aliens because that amendment “is not confined to the protection of citizens”); Bridges v. Wixon, 326 U.S. 135, 161, 65 S.Ct. 1443, 1455, 89 L.Ed. 2103 (1945) (Murphy, J., concurring) (emphasizing that among the protections enjoyed by resident aliens are first, fifth and fourteenth amendment rights); Kwang Hai Chew v. Colding, 344 U.S. 590, 596, 601, 73 S.Ct. 472, 477, 479, 97 L.Ed. 576 (1953) (holding that a resident alien is a “person” within the meaning of the fifth amendment). True enough, these cases may be explained by the compact theory. That is, by becoming a resident, an alien “is bound to obey all the laws of the country, not immediately relating to citizenship, during [his or her] sojourn in it.” Carlisle v. United States, 83 U.S. (16 Wall.) 147, 154, 21 L.Ed. 426 (1873); see also Radich v. Hutchins, 95 U.S. 210, 211, 24 L.Ed. 409 (1877) (“As a foreigner domiciled in the country,... [the alien] owed allegiance to the government of the country so long as he resided within its limits.”). By accepting the obligations of allegiance to the United States, the alien receives in exchange some measure of constitutional protection.
The alien, to whom the United States has been traditionally hospitable, has been accorded a generous and ascending scale of rights as he increases his identity with our society. Mere lawful presence in the country creates an implied assurance of safe conduct and gives him certain rights; they become more extensive and secure when he makes a preliminary declaration of intention to become a citizen, and they expand to those of full citizenship upon naturalization.
Johnson v. Eisentrager, 339 U.S. 763, 770, 70 S.Ct. 936, 939, 94 L.Ed. 1255 (1950); see also Landon v. Plasencia, 459 U.S. 21, 32, 103 S.Ct. 321, 329, 74 L.Ed.2d 21 (1982) (discussing Johnson with approval).
On the other hand, the Court has stated that an alien seeking admission to the United States enjoys no constitutional rights. See, e.g., Landon, 459 U.S. at 32, 103 S.Ct. at 329; United States ex rel. Turner v. Williams, 194 U.S. 279, 292, 24 S.Ct. 719, 723, 48 L.Ed. 979 (1904) (“[An alien] does not become one of the people to whom [first amendment rights] are secured by our Constitution by an attempt to enter forbidden by law_ [T]hose who are excluded cannot assert the rights in general obtaining in a land to which they do not belong as citizens or otherwise.”). Just as it does in the resident alien cases, the compact theory adequately explains these “aliens seeking admission” decisions. The compact analysis fails, however, upon an examination of those cases in which constitutional protections have been extended to illegal aliens who are within the United States.
The Supreme Court has extended significant constitutional protections to aliens within the United States, without distinguishing between those who are here legally or illegally, or between residents and visitors. See, e.g., Yick Wo v. Hopkins, 118 U.S. 356, 369, 6 S.Ct. 1064, 1070, 30 L.Ed. 220 (1886) (“The Fourteenth Amendment... is not confined to the protection of citizens.... [Its] provisions are universal in their application, to all persons within the territorial jurisdiction [of the United States].”); In re Ross, 140 U.S. 453, 464, 11 S.Ct. 897, 900, 35 L.Ed. 581 (1891) (holding that although fifth and sixth amendments do not apply to trials conducted in consular courts, their guarantees apply to “citizens and others within the United States, or who are brought there for trial”); Wong Wing v. United States, 163 U.S. 228, 238, 16 S.Ct. 977, 981, 41 L.Ed. 140 (1896) (holding that “all persons within the territory of the United States are entitled to the protection guaranteed by [the fifth and sixth] amendments”); United States ex rel. Turner v. Williams, 194 U.S. 279, 291, 24 S.Ct. 719, 722, 48 L.Ed. 979 (1904) (observing that fifth and sixth amendments protect aliens once they are in this country); Mathews v. Diaz, 426 U.S. 67, 77, 96 S.Ct. 1883, 1890, 48 L.Ed.2d 478 (1976) (explaining that all aliens within the jurisdiction of the United States enjoy the protections of the fifth and fourteenth amendments and may not be invidiously discriminated against by the federal government). In other cases, the Court has considered specifically the constitutional protections enjoyed by illegal aliens. See, e.g., Plyler v. Doe, 457 U.S. 202, 211, 102 S.Ct. 2382, 2391, 72 L.Ed.2d 786 (1982) (holding that under the Equal Protection Clause of the fourteenth amendment, states may not discriminate against illegal aliens by withholding free public education; rejecting argument that illegal aliens are not within the jurisdiction of the states or the federal government and therefore are not entitled to equal protection rights). From these cases, we learn that aliens within the United States enjoy the benefits of the first, fifth, sixth and fourteenth amendments. The question we consider today is whether an alien, Verdugo-Urquidez, can claim benefits under the fourth amendment.
One argument against the application of the fourth amendment to Verdugo-Urqui-dez is that the language of this amendment is different from the language of the amendments that already have been found to protect aliens. For example, the first amendment broadly proscribes certain governmental conduct, while the fifth, sixth and fourteenth amendments prohibit certain acts, or provide certain rights, with respect to “persons.” In a number of cases, the Court has remarked of these amendments that their “provisions are universal in their application.” See, e.g., Yick Wo, 118 U.S. at 369, 6 S.Ct. at 1070 (fourteenth amendment); Wong Wing, 163 U.S. at 238, 16 S.Ct. at 981 (fifth and sixth amendments). The fourth amendment, in contrast, protects “the people” against unreasonable searches. It provides:
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, and 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,
U.S. Const, amend. IV.
We do not read the phrase “The right of the people to be secure” as restricting the application of the fourth amendment to any special class of people. The language of the amendment does not so limit “people,” and we will not insert qualifying language into the amendment to limit its application in such a fashion. In the present case, Verdugo-Urquidez, an alien in the custody of our government awaiting trial in our country, seeks to assert the protection of the fourth amendment. He is not in this country “illegally;” he’s here because our government wants him here to face criminal charges. He is being prosecuted for alleged violations of Unites States laws in a United States court. We can discern no conceivable reason why he should be denied the protection of the fourth amendment in connection with this prosecution.
We find support for the proposition that illegal aliens have fourth amendment rights in statements which appear in Immigration & Naturalization Service v. Lopez-Mendoza, 468 U.S. 1032, 104 S.Ct. 3479, 82 L.Ed.2d 778 (1984). There, the Court held that deportation hearings are not criminal proceedings, id. at 1038, 104 S.Ct. at 3483, and they are not appropriate proceedings in which to apply the exclusionary rule. Id. at 1041-50, 104 S.Ct. at 3484-89. Significantly, in the final part of the Lopez-Mendoza decision, a plurality of the Court stated:
We do not condone any violations of the Fourth Amendment that may have occurred in the arrests of respondents Lopez-Mendoza and Sandoval Sanchez.... Our conclusions concerning the exclusionary rule’s value might change, if there developed good reason to believe that Fourth Amendment violations by INS officers were widespread.
Id. at 1050, 104 S.Ct. at 3489. And in their dissenting opinions, four other justices expressed the view that illegal aliens have fourth amendment rights. See id. at 1051, 104 S.Ct. at 3490 (Brennan, J.) (“In this case, federal law enforcement officers arrested respondents... in violation of their Fourth Amendment rights.”); id. at 1055, 104 S.Ct. at 3491 (White, J., joined in pertinent part by Stevens, J.) (opining that fourth amendment violations often go unchallenged by illegal aliens because “once the Government has improperly obtained illegal evidence against an illegal alien, he is removed from the country”); id. at 1060, 104 S.Ct. at 3494 (Marshall, J.) (acknowledging fourth amendment rights of illegal aliens). Indeed, in the Lopez-Mendoza case, the Solicitor General of the United States conceded that illegal aliens have fourth amendment rights:
The determinative question, therefore, is not whether the protections of the Fourth Amendment extend to deportable aliens discovered in this country — a proposition we do not contest — but whether it is appropriate to permit illegal aliens to invoke the exclusionary rule in civil deportation proceedings in order to perpetuate their unlawful presence in the United States.
Brief for Petitioner at 10-11, I.N.S. v. Lopez-Mendoza, 468 U.S. 1032, 104 S.Ct. 3479, 82 L.Ed

Question: What type of court made the original decision?
A. Federal district court (single judge)
B. 3 judge district court
C. State court
D. Bankruptcy court, referee in bankruptcy, special master
E. Federal magistrate
F. Federal administrative agency
G. Special DC court
H. Other 
I. Not ascertained
Answer:

Answer: A