2. Overview of Probable Cause and Reasonable Suspicion
Last updated
Last updated
The Fourth Amendment provides that “no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause.” Accordingly, warrants (and the searches that followed in the wake of their issuance) have been challenged on the ground that police did not provide sufficient evidence when obtaining the warrants from judges. In addition, the Court has held that in several common situations, police may conduct searches and seizures without a warrant, but only with probable cause. For example, the vehicle searches described in were permissible under the “automobile exception” to the warrant requirement, about which we will learn more later. In , the Court set forth a new standard for when an informant’s tip provides probable cause to justify a search or arrest.