Court Opinion

ID: 9419998
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-02 22:52:28.422646+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:22:21.624925
License: Public Domain

*183Mr. Justice Murphy,
dissenting.
The Court today has resurrected and approved, in effect, the use of the odious general warrant or writ of assistance, presumably outlawed forever from our society by the Fourth Amendment. A warrant of arrest, without more, is now sufficient to justify an unlimited search of a man’s home from cellar to garret for evidence of any crime, provided only that he is arrested in his home. Probable cause for the search need not be shown; an oath or affirmation is unnecessary; no description of the place to be searched or the things to be seized need be given; and the magistrate’s judgment that these requirements have been satisfied is now dispensed with. In short, all the restrictions put upon the issuance and execution of search warrants by the Fourth Amendment are now dead letters as to those who are arrested in their homes.
That this decision converts a warrant for arrest into a general search warrant lacking all the constitutional safeguards is demonstrated most plainly by the facts. Two valid warrants were issued for the arrest of petitioner and one C. R. Moffett. The first warrant charged them with a violation of the mail fraud statute, § 215 of the Criminal Code; it was alleged that they sent a letter through the mails in connection with the execution of a scheme to defraud by negotiating and cashing a forged check drawn on the Mudge Oil Co. in the sum of $25,000. The second warrant charged that they caused the same check to be transported in interstate commerce in violation of § 3 of the National Stolen Property Act.
Two agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation went to petitioner’s apartment, armed with these warrants for arrest. Petitioner was placed under arrest in the living room of his apartment and was safely handcuffed. The agents, together with three others who had arrived in the meantime, then began a systematic ransacking of the *184apartment. Operating without the benefit of a search warrant, they made a search which they admitted was “as thorough as we could make it.” For five hours they literally tore the place apart from top to bottom, going through all of petitioner’s clothes and personal belongings, looking underneath the carpets, turning the bed upside down, searching through all the bed linen, opening all the chest and bureau drawers, and examining all personal papers and effects. Nothing was left untouched or unopened.
The agents testified that they were searching for “two $10,000 canceled checks of the Mudge Oil Company which our investigation established had been stolen from the offices of the Mudge Oil Company” and which might have been used in connection with forging the $25,000 check in issue. It was also admitted that they were searching “for any means that might have been used to commit these two crimes [charged in the warrants for arrest], such as burglar tools, pens, or anything that could be used in a confidence game of this type”; “we thought we might find a photostatic copy [of the $25,000 check]”; “anything which would indicate a violation of the mail fraud statute and the National Stolen Property Act”; “anything you could find in connection with the violation of the law for which he [petitioner] was then arrested.” One of them also admitted that they were “searching for goods, wares, merchandise, articles, or anything in connection with the use of the mails to defraud, and also in connection with the violation of Section 415 of Title 18.”
Suffice it to say that they found no checks. The agents admitted seizing seven pens, tissue paper and twenty-seven pieces of celluloid, the latter being found wrapped in a towel in a drawer of the bedroom dresser. Petitioner charges, and it is undenied, that the agents also seized blank stationery of various hotels, blank ruled sheets of paper, several obsolete fountain pens, expense bills and *185receipts, personal letters, a bill of sale for petitioner’s automobile, note books, address books and some mineral deeds.
Most significant of all, however, was the unexpected discovery and seizure, at the end of this long search, of a sealed envelope marked “George Harris, personal papers.” This envelope, which was found in a dresser drawer beneath some clothes, contained eleven draft registration certificates and eight notices of draft classification. Petitioner was then charged with the unlawful possession, concealment and alteration of these certificates and notices and found guilty. Nothing has ever developed as to the forged $25,000 check, which was the basis of petitioner’s original arrest. No evidence of the crimes charged in the warrants for arrest has been found; no prosecution of petitioner for those crimes has developed.
It is significant that the crime which was thus unexpectedly discovered — namely, the illegal possession of the draft certificates and notices — could not have been brought to light in this case through the use of ordinary constitutional processes. There was no prima jade evidence to support the issuance of a warrant for petitioner’s arrest for the crime of possessing these items. Nor was there any probable cause or any basis for an oath or affirmation which could justify a valid search warrant for these items. Their presence in petitioner’s apartment could be discovered only by making an unlimited search for anything and everything that might be found, a search of the type that characterizes a general search warrant or writ of assistance. And it was precisely that type of search that took place in this case.
The Court holds, however, that the search was justified as an incident to petitioner’s lawful arrest on the mail fraud and stolen property charges. It is said that law enforcement officers have the right, when making a valid arrest, to search the place and to seize the fruits and in-*186strumentalities of the crime for which the arrest was made. And since the search here was made, at least in part, to find the instrumentalities of the alleged crimes, the search was valid and petitioner cannot be heard to complain of what was found during the course of that search. This conclusion bears further analysis, however.
It is undoubtedly true that limited seizures may be made without the benefit of search warrants under certain circumstances where a person has been arrested in his home. Due accommodation must be made for the necessary processes of law enforcement. Seizure may be made of articles and papers on the person of the one arrested. And the arresting officer is free to look around and seize those fruits and evidences of crime which are in plain sight and in his immediate and discernible presence. Weeks v. United States, 232 U. S. 383, 392; Agnello v. United States, 269 U. S. 20, 30. But where no properly limited search warrant has been issued, this Court has been scrupulously insistent on confining very narrowly the scope of search and seizure. The mere fact that a man has been validly arrested does not give the arresting officers untrammeled freedom to search every cranny and nook for anything that might have some relation to the alleged crime or, indeed, to any crime whatsoever. Authority to arrest, in other words, gives no authority whatever to search the premises where the arrest occurs and no authority to seize except under the most restricted circumstances.
Illustrative of the strict limitations which this Court has placed upon searches and seizures without a warrant in connection with a lawful arrest are the three cases of Marrón v. United States, 275 U. S. 192; Go-Bart Co. v. United States, 282 U. S. 344, and United States v. Lefkowitz, 285 U. S. 452. In the Marrón case, an individual was arrested while actually engaged in running an illegal saloon in pursuance of a conspiracy; a prohibition agent secured a warrant for a search of the premises and for the *187seizure of intoxicating liquors and articles for their manufacture. Liquor was found in a closet. While searching in the closet, the agents noticed a ledger showing inventories of liquor and receipts relating to the business. Alongside the cash register they found bills for utilities furnished to the premises. They took the ledger and the bills. This Court held that while the seizure of the ledger and bills could not be justified under the search warrant, because not mentioned therein, their seizure was proper as an incident to the arrest inasmuch as they were necessary to the carrying on of the illegal business.
The Marrón case at first was widely misunderstood as having held that most of the restrictions had been removed on searches of premises incident to arrests. United, States v. Gowen, 40 F. 2d 593; United States v. Poller, 43 F. 2d 911. This misunderstanding was removed by the Go-Bart case, which made it clear that the items seized in the Mar-rón case were visible and accessible and in the offender’s immediate custody; it was further pointed out that there was no threat of force or general search or rummaging of the place in the Marrón case. The inherent limitations of the Marrón holding were demonstrated by the facts and decision in the Go-Bart case. There the defendant Bartels was placed under lawful arrest in his office on a charge of conspiracy to sell intoxicating liquors. Gowen, the other defendant, arrived and he also was placed under lawful arrest. Gowen was then forced to open a desk and a safe, which were searched by the agents along with other parts of the office. A large quantity of papers belonging to the defendants was seized. This Court held that such a seizure was unconstitutional, the search being general and unlimited in scope and being undertaken in the hope that evidence of the crime might be found.
In the Lejkowitz case, the defendants were placed under lawful arrest in their office on a charge of conspiracy to violate the liquor laws. The arresting officers then pro*188ceeded to search the desks, the towel cabinet and the waste baskets, seizing various books, papers and other articles. All of this was done without a search warrant. Once again the Court held that the Constitution had been violated. It was pointed out that the searches were exploratory and general and made solely to find evidence of the defendant’s guilt of the alleged conspiracy or some other crime; the papers and other articles seized were unoffending in themselves.
Tested in the light of the foregoing principles and decisions, the search in the instant case cannot be justified. Even more glaring than the searches in the Go-Bart and Lefkowitz cases, the search here was a general exploratory one undertaken in the hope that evidence of some crime might be uncovered. The agents were searching for more than the fruits and instrumentalities of the crimes for which the arrest was made. By their own repeated testimony, they were searching for “anything” in connection with the alleged crimes, for “anything” that would indicate a violation of the laws in question. And their seizure of the draft certificates and notices demonstrates that they were also on the lookout for evidence of any other crime. In the absence of a valid warrant, such an unlimited, ransacking search for “anything” that might turn up has been condemned by this Court in constitutional terms time and time again. Nothing in any of the previous decisions of this Court even remotely approves or justifies this type of search as an incident to a valid arrest; in this respect, today’s decision flatly contradicts and, in effect, overrules the Go-Bart and Lefkowitz cases.
Moreover, even if we assume that the agents were merely looking for the fruits and instrumentalities of the crimes for which the arrest was made, the Constitution has been violated. There are often minute objects connected with the commission of a crime, objects that can *189be hidden in a small recess of a home or apartment and that can be discovered only by a thorough, ransacking search. Where the discovery of such objects requires an invasion of privacy to the extent evident in this case, the dangers inherent in such an invasion without a warrant far outweigh any policy underlying this method of crime detection. A search of that scope inevitably becomes, as it has in this case, a general exploratory search for “anything” in connection with the alleged crime or any other crime — a type of search which is most roundly condemned by the Constitution.
Thus when a search of this nature degenerates into a general exploratory crusade, probing for anything and everything that might evidence the commission of a crime, the Constitution steps into the picture to protect the individual. If it becomes evident that nothing can be found without a meticulous uprooting of a man’s home, it is time for the law enforcement officers to secure a warrant. And if such a search has any reasonableness at all, it is a reasonableness that must be determined through the informed and deliberate judgment of a magistrate. “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. Lefkowitz, supra, 464.
To insist upon a search warrant in the circumstances of this case is not to hobble the law enforcement process. Here there was no necessity for haste, no likelihood that the contents of the apartment might be removed or destroyed before a valid search warrant could be obtained. Indeed, the agents did get a warrant to search petitioner’s office and automobile. It would have been no undue burden on them to obtain a warrant to search the apartment, *190guarding it in the meantime. Certainly the Constitution is not dependent upon the whim or convenience of law enforcement officers. Search should not be made without a warrant, in other words, where the opportunity for the issuance of a warrant exists. Carroll v. United States, 267 U. S. 132, 156; Taylor v. United States, 286 U. S. 1, 6.
The decision of the Court in this case can have but one meaning so far as searches are concerned. It effectively takes away the protection of the Fourth Amendment against unreasonable searches from those who are placed under lawful arrest in their homes. Small, minute objects are used in connection with most if not all crimes; and there is always the possibility that some fruit of the crime or some item used in the commission of the offense may take the form of a small piece of paper. Using the subterfuge of searching for such fruits and instrumentalities of the crime, law enforcement officers are now free to engage in an unlimited plunder of the home. Some of them may be frank enough, as in this case, to admit openly that the object of their search is “anything” that might connect the accused with the alleged crime. Others may be more guarded in their admissions. But all will realize that it is now far better for them to forego securing a search warrant, which is limited in scope by the Fourth Amendment to those articles set forth with particularity in the warrant. Under today’s decision, a warrant of arrest for a particular crime authorizes an unlimited search of one’s home from cellar to attic for evidence of “anything” that might come to light, whether bearing on the crime charged or any other crime. A search warrant is not only unnecessary; it is a hindrance.
The holding that the search in this case was proper and reasonable thus expands the narrow limitations on searches incident to valid arrests beyond all recognition. *191What has heretofore been a carefully circumscribed exception to the prohibition against searches without warrants has now been inflated into a comprehensive principle of freedom from all the requirements of the Fourth Amendment. The result is that a warrant for arrest is the equivalent of a general search warrant or writ of assistance; as an “incident” to the arrest, the arresting officers can search the surrounding premises without limitation for the fruits, instrumentalities and anything else connected with the crime charged or with any other possible crime. They may disregard with impunity all the historic principles underlying the Fourth Amendment relative to indiscriminate searches of a man’s home when he is placed under arrest. See Boyd v. United States, 116 U. S. 616, 624-632; Weeks v. United States, supra; Byars v. United States, 273 U. S. 28. They may disregard the fact that the Fourth Amendment was designed in part, indeed perhaps primarily, to outlaw Such general warrants, that there is no exception in favor of general searches in the course of executing a lawful warrant for arrest. As to those placed under arrest, the restrictions of the Fourth Amendment on searches are now words without meaning or effect.
Nor is the flagrant violation of the Fourth Amendment in this case remedied by the fact that the arresting officers, during the course of their ransacking search, uncovered and seized certain articles which it was unlawful for petitioner to possess. It has long been recognized, of course, that certain objects, the possession of which is in some way illegal, may be seized on appropriate occasions without a search warrant. Such objects include stolen goods, property forfeited to the Government, property concealed to avoid payment of duties, counterfeit coins, burglar tools, gambling paraphernalia, illicit liquor and the like. Boyd v. United States, supra, 623-624; *192United States v. Lefkowitz, supra, 465-466; Gouled v. United States, 255 U. S. 298, 309. But the permissible seizure of such goods is necessarily dependent upon the seizure occurring (1) during the course of a reasonable, constitutional search, (2) as the result of ready observance of the surrounding premises by the arresting officers, or (3) as the result of the use of such objects in the commission of a crime in the presence of the officers. Never has it been suggested by this Court that law enforcement officers can use illegal means to seize that which it is unlawful to possess. To break and enter, to engage in unauthorized and unreasonable searches, to destroy all the rights to privacy in an effort to uproot crime may suit the purposes of despotic power, but those methods cannot abide the pure atmosphere of a free society.
The seizure here, as noted, did not occur during the course of a reasonable, constitutional search. Nor did it result from the ready observance of the surrounding premises; the draft certificates and notices were discovered only after a most meticulous ransacking. It is said, however, that the possession of these items by petitioner constituted a continuing offense committed in the presence of the arresting officers. This may be a dialectical way of putting the matter, but it would not commend itself to the common understanding of men. From a practical standpoint, these certificates and notices were not being possessed in the presence of the officers. They were hidden away in the bottom of a dresser drawer beneath some clothes. No arresting officer could possibly be aware of their existence or location unless he possessed some supernatural faculty. Indeed, if an arresting officer is to be allowed to search for and seize all hidden things the possession of which is unlawful, on the theory that the possession is occurring in his presence, there would be nothing *193left of the Fourth Amendment. Law enforcement officers would be invited to ignore the right to privacy executing warrants of arrest and searching without restraint and without regard to constitutional rights for those hidden items which were being illegally “possessed” in their “presence.”
The key fact of this case is that the search was lawless. A lawless search cannot give rise to a lawful seizure, even of contraband goods. And “good faith” on the part of the arresting officers cannot justify a lawless search, nor support a lawless seizure. In forbidding unreasonable searches and seizures, the Constitution made certain procedural requirements indispensable for lawful searches and seizures. It did not mean, however, to substitute the good intentions of the police for judicial authorization except in narrowly confined situations. History, both before and after the adoption of the Fourth Amendment, has shown good police intentions to be inadequate safeguards for the precious rights of man. But the Court now turns its back on that history and leaves the reasonableness of searches and seizures without warrants to the unreliable judgment of the arresting officers. As a result, the rights of those placed under arrest to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures are precarious to the extreme.
Now it may be that the illegality of the search and of the seizure in this case leads to the immunizing of petitioner from prosecution for the illegal possession of the draft certificates and notices. But freedom from unreasonable search and- seizure is one of the cardinal rights of free men under our Constitution. That freedom belongs to all men, including those who may be guilty of some crime. The public policy underlying the constitutional guarantee of that freedom is so great as to outweigh the desirability of convicting those whose crime has been revealed through an unlawful invasion of their *194right to privacy. Lawless methods of law enforcement are frequently effective in uncovering crime, especially where tyranny reigns, but they are not to be countenanced under our form of government. It is not a novel principle of our constitutional system that a few criminals should go free rather than that the freedom and liberty of all citizens be jeopardized.
It is likely that the full impact of today’s decision will not be apparent immediately. Petitioner is not an important or notorious criminal; and the investigation may have been undertaken with the best of motives. But apart from the fact that the Constitution was designed to protect the unimportant as well as the important, including those of criminal tendencies, the implications of what has been done in this case can affect the freedom of all our people. The principle established by the Court today can be used as easily by some future government determined to suppress political opposition under the guise of sedition as it can be used by a government determined to undo forgers and defrauders. See United States v. Kirschenblatt, 16 F. 2d 202, 203. History is not without examples of the outlawry of certain political, religious and economic beliefs and the relentless prosecution of those who dare to entertain such beliefs. And history has a way of repeating itself. It therefore takes no stretch of the imagination to picture law enforcement officers arresting those accused of believing, writing or speaking that which is proscribed, accompanied by a thorough ransacking of their homes as an “incident” to the arrest in an effort to uncover “anything” of a seditious nature. Under the Court’s decision, the Fourth Amendment no longer stands as a bar to such tyranny and oppression. On the contrary, direct encouragement is given to this abandonment of the right of privacy, a right won at so great a cost by *195those who fought for freedom through the flight of time.
As Judge Learned Hand recently said, “If the prosecution of crime is to be conducted with so little regard for that protection which centuries of English law have given to the individual, we are indeed at the dawn of a new era; and much that we have deemed vital to our liberties, is a delusion.” United States v. Di Re, 159 P. 2d 818, 820.
Mr. Justice Frankfurter and Mr. Justice Rutledge join this dissent.