Supreme Court and Rights - Essay Example

In the case of Weeks v. the United States, Weeks’ property was searched by the state agents without a lawful warrant and some papers and other possessions were seized by the agents which led to the conclusion that the defendant was an illegal gambler. However, this constituted a violation of the Fourth Amendment because otherwise the evidence that was collected in this unlawful manner should not have been used in the federal criminal prosecution. By the 20th century, however, the Court came to recognize the fact that the Fourth Amendment was of no use if this kind of a search and seizure practice was carried on without any warrant.

This Amendment carries a certain amount of protection that is to be given to citizens and states that evidence produced in such an unlawful manner cannot be held against the defendant. Thus, the Court had finally decided the case to be in favor of Weeks and classifies a certain right of privacy to be provided to other citizens under the same category in order to abide by the guidelines set in the Fourth Amendment.