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N.D.Ill.: Fourth Amendment applies to foreign search by U.S. officers, but warrant may be issued locally

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Fourth Amendment applied to a search of an American citizen in Thailand by ICE officers investigating defendant’s international travel for the purpose of sex with minors in violation of U.S. law. However, the warrant clause does not require an American judge issue a warrant, and the search warrant here was issued by a Thai provincial court. United States v. Stokes, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 115542 (N.D. Ill. December 11, 2009): It is a matter of first impression in this Circuit whether the Warrant Clause of the Fourth Amendment governs searches and seizures of U.S. citizens in foreign lands. The court is not aware of any case, and Stokes presents no authority, that holds that the Warrant Clause ever applies in foreign territory. Such an extension of the warrant requirement would be, in Justice Harlan's words, "impractical and anomalous...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on December 16, 2009 (boomark / email).