Opinion ID: 1917419
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Background of Requirement of a Neutral and Detached Magistrate in Search and Seizure Context. The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides:

Text: 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. U.S. Const., amend. IV. The Iowa Constitution has a search and seizure provision with nearly identical language. Iowa Const. art. I, § 8. These two constitutional provisions are generally deemed to be identical in scope, import, and purpose. State v. Groff, 323 N.W.2d 204, 207 (Iowa 1982). No party has suggested that the Iowa constitutional provision should be interpreted differently than its federal counterpart on the contested issues in this appeal and, as a result, we interpret the Iowa Constitution similarly to its federal counterpart. In re Detention of Garren, 620 N.W.2d 275, 280 n. 1 (Iowa 2000) (refusing to deviate from federal analysis in considering state constitutional claim because appellant ha[d] suggested no deficiency in the federal principles . . . nor ha[d] he offered an alternative test or guideline). The second clause of the Fourth Amendment, known as the Warrants Clause, is silent on the question of who may issue a valid warrant. As a result, while the language suggests an intent to limit the power of police to engage in searches and seizures that are unreasonable or not based on probable cause and to limit the scope of warrants authorizing intrusions into private lives, there can be no resort to a textual analysis of the Fourth Amendment to provide guidance on the question of who may issue a valid warrant. Lloyd L. Weinreb, Generalities of the Fourth Amendment, 42 U. Chi. L.Rev. 47, 47 (1974). The drafting history of the Fourth Amendment is also of little help. While James Madison's original draft of the Warrants Clause was directed solely at the substantive requirements for a valid warrant, the draft was changed by Congress to include the Reasonableness Clause. Tracey Maclin, The Central Meaning of the Fourth Amendment, 35 Wm. & Mary L.Rev. 197, 208-09 (1993). There is simply nothing of relevance on the question of magistrate qualifications that can be teased from this drafting history. In light of the language and limited legislative history, it is not surprising that authorities have resorted to vague generalities in characterizing the commands of the Fourth Amendment. Leading Fourth Amendment scholars declare that the Fourth Amendment embodies a spiritual concept in the value of privacy and a value judgment about privacy and security in a free and open society. See Jacob W. Landynski, Search and Seizure and the Supreme Court: A Study in Constitutional Interpretation 47 (1966); Anthony Amsterdam, Perspectives on the Fourth Amendment, 58 Minn. L.Rev. 349, 403 (1974). These declarations, however, provide little specific guidance on how Fourth Amendment values should be implemented in the real world.