Domestic Surveillance

The Fourth Amendment of the US Constitution, ratified in 1791, guarantees the right of people in the United States not to have their person or property subject to "unreasonable searches and seizures" by the government. The amendment requires that the government have a search warrant before undertaking searches or seizures of a person or property. A warrant is issued by a judge or other legal official based on evidence that indicates a crime is likely to have been committed. Changes in the way that intelligence is gathered since 1791 have sparked debate over what constitutes an "unreasonable" search or seizure and whether privacy is a constitutionally protected right. Civil libertarians have argued that government monitoring, collection of private data, and...