warrant

(noun)

Authorization or certification; sanction, as given by a superior.

Related Terms

Examples of warrant in the following topics:

  • The Fourth Amendment

    • The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution is the part of the Bill of Rights which guards against unreasonable searches and seizures, along with requiring any warrant to be judicially sanctioned and supported by probable cause.
    • 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.

  • The Fourth Amendment and Search and Seizure

    • The court held that constructive searches are limited by the Fourth Amendment, while actual searches and seizures require a warrant based on "probable cause."
    • The Fourth Amendment (Amendment IV) to the United States Constitution is the part of the Bill of Rights ([fig:9477]]) guarding against unreasonable searches and seizures, as well as requiring any warrant to be judicially sanctioned and supported by probable cause.
    • It was adopted as a response to the abuse of the writ of assistance (a type of general search warrant) in the American Revolution.
    • The text of the Fourth Amendment states the following: "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. "
    • When an individual does not possess a "reasonable expectation of privacy" that society is willing to acknowledge in a particular piece of property, any interference by the government with regard to that property is not considered a search subject to the Fourth Amendment, and a warrant is never required.

  • The PATRIOT and Freedom Acts

    • It was placed there without a warrant, which caused a serious conviction obstacle for federal prosecutors in court.
    • The USA PATRIOT Act's expansion of court jurisdiction to allow the nationwide service of search warrants proved controversial for the Electronic Frontiers Foundation (EFF).
    • They believe that agencies will be able to shop for judges that have demonstrated a strong bias toward law enforcement with regard to search warrants, and use only those judges least likely to say no even if the warrant doesn't satisfy the strict requirements of the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution.
    • They also believe that the expansion reduces the likelihood that smaller ISPs or phone companies will try to protect the privacy of their clients by challenging the warrant in court; for example a small San Francisco ISP served with such a warrant may be unlikely to have the resources to appear before the New York court that issued it.
    • They also assert that only the communications provider will be able to challenge the warrant as only they will know about it; many warrants are issued ex parte, which means that the target of the order is not present when the order is issued.

  • The First and Fourth Amendments and Issues of Terrorism and Security

    • The Fourth Amendment has been held to mean that a warrant must be judicially sanctioned for a search or an arrest.
    • In order for such a warrant to be considered reasonable, it must be supported by probable cause.
    • The protection of private conversations has been held to apply only to conversations where the participants have manifested a reasonable expectation that no other party is listening in on their conversation.The Fourth Amendment does not apply in the absence of such a reasonable expectation, and surveillance without warrant does not violate it.
    • This means no warrant would be required to engage in even physical searches of non-U.S. citizens abroad.
    • All wiretapping of American citizens by the National Security Agency requires a warrant from a three-judge court set up under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

  • Roving Wiretaps

    • In 2007 a United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance court ruling required that the NSA obtain a warrant when intercepting or eavesdropping on foreign-to-foreign intelligence if it passes through any U.S. networks.
    • He also stated that since applying for a warrant can run up to 90 pages, the process is exceedingly time consuming and labor intensive.
    • ACLU advocates pushed to require that the NSA provide individual warrants when Americans were involved.
    • The US Patriot Act of 2001, Section 216, permits all phone calls to be recorded without a warrant or notification.

  • National Security Agency Surveillance

    • Under this program, referred to by the Bush administration as the terrorist surveillance program, part of the broader President's Surveillance Program, the NSA was authorized by executive order to monitor, without search warrants, the phone calls, Internet activity (web, email, etc.), text messaging, and other communication involving any party believed by the NSA to be outside the U.S., even if the other end of the communication lies within the U.S.
    • All wiretapping of American citizens by the National Security Agency requires a warrant from a three-judge court set up under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
    • Additionally, they claimed that the warrant requirements of FISA were implicitly superseded by the subsequent passage of the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Terrorists (AUMF).
    • The administration holds that an exception to the normal warrant requirements exists when the purpose of the surveillance is to prevent an attack from a foreign threat.

  • Sunset Laws

    • The Patriot Act is a sunset law on wiretapping for terrorism cases, wiretapping for computer fraud and abuse, sharing of wiretap and foreign intelligence information, warranted seizure of voicemail messages, computer trespasser communications, nationwide service or warrants for electronic evidence, and privacy violation of civil liability.

  • Ratification of the Constitution

    • Amendment 4: Interdiction of unreasonable searches and seizures; a search warrant is required to search persons or property.

  • The Impact of Minor Parties

    • They are usually not even allowed on ballots for due to lack of popular support and signatures to warrant a place under local laws.

  • Subsidies and Contracting

    • The authority of a contracting officer (the Government's agent) to contract on behalf of the Government is set forth in public documents (a warrant) that a person dealing with the contracting officer can review.
    • The contracting officer has no authority to act outside of his or her warrant or to deviate from the laws and regulations controlling Federal Government contracts.