The Fourth Amendment Is the Most Punk Rock Sentence in Law

Two hundred and thirty-five years old and still the most radical constraint on government power ever written.

“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated.”

Fifty-four words. That’s it. That’s the entire Fourth Amendment.

And those fifty-four words have generated more litigation, more Supreme Court opinions, and more heated debate than almost any other sentence in American law. Because every generation has to decide what “unreasonable” means — and every generation gets it at least partially wrong.

Here’s why the Fourth Amendment is the most punk rock thing the Framers ever wrote, and why it matters more now than it did in 1791.