OCTOBER TERM, 1998
Syllabus
CITY OF WEST COVINA
v. PERKINS ET AL.
CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH
CIRCUIT
No. 97-1230. Argued November 3, 1998-Decided January 13,
1999
Petitioner City's police officers lawfully seized respondents'
personal property from their home, leaving a notice form specifying
the fact of the search, its date, the searching agency, the
warrant's date, the issuing judge and his court, and the persons to
be contacted for information, and an itemized list of the property
seized. The officers did not leave the search warrant number, but
the warrant's issuance was recorded by respondents' address and the
warrant number in a public index. After attempts to obtain return
of the seized property failed, respondents filed this suit, and the
Federal District Court ultimately granted the City summary
judgment. In reversing, the Ninth Circuit held, by analogy to
Memphis Light, Gas &
Water Div. v.
Craft,
436 U. S. 1, that
the Due Process Clause required that respondents be provided, in
addition to the information set forth in the City's form, detailed
notice of the state procedures for return of seized property and
the information necessary to invoke those procedures, including the
search warrant number or a method for obtaining it.
Held: When police seize property for a criminal
investigation, the Due Process Clause does not require them to
provide the owner with notice of state-law remedies for the
property's return. The Ninth Circuit's expansive notice requirement
lacks support in this Court's precedent. Individualized notice that
officers have taken property is necessary in a case such as this
one because the owner has no other reasonable means of ascertaining
who is responsible for his loss. However, no similar rationale
justifies requiring notice of state-law remedies which, like those
at issue here, are established by published, generally available
state statutes and case law. Cf.,
e. g., Reetz v.
Michigan, 188
U. S. 505,
509. Memphis, supra, is not to the contrary.
See
id., at 14, n. 14. To sustain the Ninth Circuit's
holding, this Court would have to find that due process requires
notice that not one State or the Federal Government has seen fit to
require, in the context of law enforcement practices that have
existed for centuries. Respondents' alternative argument that the
notice given them was inadequate because it did not provide the
vital search warrant number is undermined by the District Court's
explicit finding that they failed to establish they needed the
number to file a motion for return of their property. Pp.
240-244.
113 F.3d
1004, reversed and remanded.
235
KENNEDY, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which
REHNQUIST, C. J., and STEVENS, O'CONNOR, SOUTER, GINSBURG, and
BREYER, JJ., joined. THOMAS, J., filed an opinion concurring in the
judgment, in which SCALIA, J., joined,
post, p. 246.
David D. Lawrence argued the cause for petitioner. With
him on the briefs was
Cindy S.
Lee.
Jeffrey S.
Sutton, State Solicitor of Ohio, argued
the cause for the State of Ohio et al. as
amici curiae
urging reversal. With him on the brief were
Betty D.
Montgomery, Attorney General of Ohio,
Elise W Porter and
Jeffrey B. Hartranft, Assistant Attorneys General, and the
Attorneys General for their respective jurisdictions as follows:
Bill Pryor of Alabama,
Bruce M. Botelho of Alaska,
Grant Woods of Arizona,
Winston Bryant of Arkansas,
M. Jane Brady of Delaware,
Robert A. Butterworth of
Florida,
Gus F. Diaz of Guam,
Margery S.
Bronster of Hawaii,
Jeffrey A. Modisett of Indiana,
Thomas J.
Miller of Iowa,
Carla J.
Stovall of Kansas,
Richard P. Ieyoub of Louisiana, J.
Joseph Curran, Jr., of Maryland,
Frank J. Kelley of
Michigan,
Hubert H. Humphrey III of Minnesota,
Joseph P.
Mazurek of Montana,
Don Stenberg of Nebraska,
Frankie
Sue Del Papa of Nevada,
Peter Verniero of New Jersey,
Dennis C.
Vacco of New York,
Michael F. Easley
of North Carolina,
Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota,
W A.
Drew Edmondson of Oklahoma,
Hardy Myers of Oregon,
Charles M. Condon of South Carolina,
Mark W Barnett
of South Dakota,
Jan Graham of Utah,
Mark L. Earley
of Virginia, and
Christine O.
Gregoire of
Washington.
Patrick S.
Smith argued the cause and filed a
brief for respondents. *
*Briefs of
amici curiae urging reversal were filed for
the United States by
Solicitor General Waxman, Deputy Solicitor
General Dreeben, and
Irving L. Gornstein; for 62 named
California Cities, Counties and Towns by
Julia Hayward Biggs
and
Rufus C.
Young, Jr.; and for the National League
of Cities et al. by
Richard Ruda and
Clifford M.
Sloan.
236
JUSTICE KENNEDY delivered the opinion of the Court. We granted
certiorari, 523 U. S. 1105 (1998), to consider in this case whether
the Constitution requires a State or its local entities to give
detailed and specific instructions or advice to owners who seek
return of property lawfully seized but no longer needed for police
investigation or criminal prosecution. Interpreting the Due Process
Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, the Court of Appeals for the
Ninth Circuit imposed a series of specific notice requirements on
the city responsible for the seizure. We conclude these
requirements are not mandated by the Due Process Clause, and we
reverse.
I
The case began when police officers of petitioner, the city of
West Covina, California (City), acting in accordance with law and
pursuant to a valid search warrant, seized personal property. The
property belonged to the owner of the searched home, respondent
Lawrence Perkins, and to his family. The suspect in the crime was
neither Perkins nor anyone in his family, but one Marcus Marsh.
Marsh had been a boarder in the Perkins' home. After leaving their
home, and unknown to them, he became the subject of a homicide
investigation.
During the search of respondents' home for evidence
incriminating Marsh, the police seized a number of items, including
photos of Marsh, an address book, a 12-gauge shotgun, a starter
pistol, ammunition, and $2,629 in cash.
113 F.3d
1004, 1006 (CA9 1997). At the conclusion of the search, the
officers left respondents a form entitled "Search Warrant: Notice
of Service," which stated:
"TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:
"1. THESE PREMISES HAVE BEEN SEARCHED BY PEACE OFFICERS OF THE
(name of searching agency) West Covina Police DEPARTMENT
PURSUANT TO A SEARCH WARRANT ISSUED ON (date)
237
5-20-93, BY THE HONORABLE (name of magistrate) Dan
Oki, JUDGE OF THE SUPERIOR/MUNICIPAL COURT, Citrus
JUDICIAL DISTRICT.
"2. THE SEARCH WAS CONDUCTED ON (date) 5-21-93. A LIST OF THE
PROPERTY SEIZED PURSUANT TO THE SEARCH WARRANT IS ATTACHED.
"3. IF YOU WISH FURTHER INFORMATION, YOU MAY CONTACT:
(name of investigator) Det. Ferrari or Det. Meln'llk AT
[telephone number].
"LT. SCHIMANSKI [telephone number]." App. 76-77 (italicized
characters represent those portions of the original document which
were handwritten on the form).
In accordance with the notice, the officers also left
respondents an itemized list of the property seized. 113 F. 3d, at
1011-1012. The officers did not leave the search warrant number
because the warrant was under seal to avoid compromising the
ongoing investigation.
Id., at 1007. In a public index
maintained by the court clerk, however, the issuance of the warrant
was recorded by the address of the home searched and the search
warrant number.
Ibid.
Not long after the search, Perkins called Ferrari, one of the
detectives listed on the notice, and inquired about return of the
seized property. No. CV 93-7084 SVW (CD Cal., July 8, 1996), App.
to Pet. for Cert. E3. One of the detectives told Perkins he needed
to obtain a court order authorizing the property's return.
Ibid.
About a month after the search, Perkins went to the Citrus
Municipal Court to see Judge Oki, who had issued the warrant. He
learned Judge Oki was on vacation.
Ibid. He tried to have
another judge release his property but was told the court had
nothing under Perkins' name.
Ibid.
Rather than continuing to pursue a court order releasing the
property by filing a written motion with the court, mak-
238
ing other inquiries, or returning to the courthouse at some
later date, ibid., respondents filed suit in United States District
Court against the City and the officers who conducted the search.
They alleged the officers had violated their Fourth Amendment
rights by conducting a search without probable cause and exceeding
the scope of the warrant. App. 7-9. They further alleged that the
City had a policy of permitting unlawful searches.
Id., at
10.
The District Court granted summary judgment for the City and its
officers. App. to Pet. for Cert. B1-B11. The court, however,
invited supplemental briefing on an issue respondents had not
raised: whether available remedies for the return of seized
property were adequate to satisfy due process.
Id., at B7.
The parties submitted briefs on the issue, but the court did not
rule on it. Respondents appealed the District Court's holding on
their Fourth Amendment claims, but the Court of Appeals remanded
the case to the District Court for resolution of the due process
question. No. 94-56365 (CA9, Apr. 30, 1996), App. to Pet. for Cert.
D1-D3.
The District Court held on remand that the remedies provided by
California law for return of the seized property satisfied due
process, and it granted summary judgment for the City. No. CV
93-7084 SVW,
supra, App. to Pet. for Cert. E2. In
particular, the court rejected respondents' claim that the
procedure for return of their property was unavailable to them
because the City did not give them adequate notice of the remedy
and the information needed to invoke it.
Id., at E6.
On appeal, the Court of Appeals reversed the grant of summary
judgment for the City. 113 F. 3d, at 1006. As an initial matter,
the court noted that, under
Fuentes v.
Shevin,
407 U. S. 67
(1972), respondents were entitled only to an adequate
postdeprivation remedy, and not to a pre deprivation hearing prior
to the seizure. 113 F. 3d, at 1010. The Court
239
of Appeals also agreed with the District Court that the
postdeprivation remedies for return of property established by
California statute and case law satisfied the requirements of due
process.
Id., at lOll.
Nevertheless, the court held, by analogy to this Court's
decision in
Memphis Light, Gas &
Water Div. v.
Craft, 436 U. S. 1 (1978), that the City was required to
give respondents notice of the state procedures for return of
seized property and the information necessary to invoke those
procedures (including the search warrant number or a method for
obtaining the number). 113 F. 3d, at 1012. While acknowledging that
it was not the court's place "to specify the exact phrasing of an
adequate notice," the court proceeded to explicate, in some detail,
the content of the required notice:
"In cases where property is taken under California law ... the
notice should include the following: as on the present notice, the
fact of the search, its date, and the searching agency; the date of
the warrant, the issuing judge, and the court in which he or she
serves; and the persons to be contacted for further information. In
addition, the notice must inform the recipient of the procedure for
contesting the seizure or retention of the property taken, along
with any additional information required for initiating that
procedure in the appropriate court. In circumstances such as those
presented by this record, the notice must include the search
warrant number or, if it is not available or the record is sealed,
the means of identifying the court file. It also must explain the
need for a written motion or request to the court stating why the
property should be returned." Id., at 1013.
This expansive requirement lacks support in our case law and
mandates notice not now prescribed by the Federal Government or by
anyone of the 50 States.
240
II
At this stage, no one contests the right of the State to have
seized the property in the first instance or its ultimate
obligation to return it. So rules restricting the substantive power
of the State to take property are not implicated by this case. What
is at issue is the obligation of the State to provide fair
procedures to ensure return of the property when the State no
longer has a lawful right to retain it.
Respondents acknowledge, as they must, that the City notified
them of the initial seizure and gave them an inventory of the
property taken. Accordingly, we need not decide how detailed the
notice of the seizure must be or when the notice must be given.
They also raise no independent challenge to the Court of Appeals'
conclusion that California law provides adequate remedies for
return of their property, including a motion under Cal. Penal Code
Ann. § 1536 (West 1982) or a motion under § 1540. See 113 F. 3d, at
1011. Rather, they contend the City deprived them of due process by
failing to provide them notice of their remedies and the factual
information necessary to invoke the remedies under California law.
When the police seize property for a criminal investigation,
however, due process does not require them to provide the owner
with notice of state-law remedies.
A primary purpose of the notice required by the Due Process
Clause is to ensure that the opportunity for a hearing is
meaningful. See
Mullane v.
Central Hanover Bank &
Trust Co.,
339 U. S.
306, 314 (1950) ("Th[e] right to be heard has little reality or
worth unless one is informed that the matter [affecting one's
property rights] is pending and can choose for himself whether to
appear or default, acquiesce or contest"). It follows that when law
enforcement agents seize property pursuant to warrant, due process
requires them to take reasonable steps to give notice that the
property has been taken so the owner can pursue available remedies
for its return. Cf.
Schroeder v.
City of New York,
371 U. S. 208,
214 (1962) (requiring a city to provide adequate
241
notice of the deprivation-the city's condemnation of certain
water rights-which created the property owner's right to pursue
damages claims and triggered the statute of limitations on those
claims). Individualized notice that the officers have taken the
property is necessary in a case such as the one before us because
the property owner would have no other reasonable means of
ascertaining who was responsible for his loss.
No similar rationale justifies requiring individualized notice
of state-law remedies which, like those at issue here, are
established by published, generally available state statutes and
case law. Once the property owner is informed that his property has
been seized, he can turn to these public sources to learn about the
remedial procedures available to him. The City need not take other
steps to inform him of his options. Cf.
Reetz v.
Michigan, 188
U. S. 505, 509 (1903) (holding that a statute fixing the time
and place of meetings of a medical licensing board provided license
applicants adequate notice of the procedure for obtaining a hearing
on their applications because: "When a statute fixes the time and
place of meeting of any board or tribunal, no special notice to
parties interested is required. The statute is itself sufficient
notice");
Atkins v.
Parker, 472 U. S. 115, 131 (1985)
(noting that "[t]he entire structure of our democratic government
rests on the premise that the individual citizen is capable of
informing himself about the particular policies that affect his
destiny"). In prior cases in which we have held that
postdeprivation state-law remedies were sufficient to satisfy the
demands of due process and the laws were public and available, we
have not concluded that the State must provide further information
about those procedures. See,
e. g.,
Hudson
Memphis Light, the case on which the Court of Appeals
relied, is not to the contrary. In
Memphis Light, the Court
held that a public utility must make available to its customers the
opportunity to discuss a billing dispute with a utility
242
employee who has authority to resolve the matter before
terminating utility service for nonpayment. 436 U. S., at 16-17.
The Court also held that due process required the utility to inform
the customer not only of the planned termination, but also of the
availability and general contours of the internal administrative
procedure for resolving the accounting dispute.
Id., at
13-15. In requiring notice of the administrative procedures,
however, we relied not on any general principle that the government
must provide notice of the procedures for protecting one's property
interests but on the fact that the administrative procedures at
issue were not described in any publicly available document. A
customer who was informed that the utility planned to terminate his
service could not reasonably be expected to educate himself about
the procedures available to protect his interests:
"[T]here is no indication in the record that a written account
of [the utility's dispute resolution] procedure was accessible to
customers who had complaints about their bills. [The plaintiff's]
case reveals that the opportunity to invoke that procedure, if it
existed at all, depended on the vagaries of 'word of mouth
referral.' " Id., at 14, n. 14.
While
Memphis Light demonstrates that notice of the
procedures for protecting one's property interests may be required
when those procedures are arcane and are not set forth in documents
accessible to the public, it does not support a general rule that
notice of remedies and procedures is required.
The Court of Appeals' far-reaching notice requirement not only
lacks support in our precedent but also conflicts with the
well-established practice of the States and the Federal Government.
The notice required by the Court of Appeals far exceeds that which
the States and the Federal Government have traditionally required
their law enforcement agencies to provide. Indeed, neither the
Federal Govern-
243
ment nor any State requires officers to provide individualized
notice of the procedures for seeking return of seized property. See
Appendix,
infra, p. 244.
Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 41(d), for example, requires
federal agents seizing property pursuant to a warrant to "give to
the person from whom or from whose premises the property was taken
a copy of the warrant and a receipt for the property taken or [to]
leave the copy and receipt at the place from which the property was
taken." The Rule makes no provision for notifying property owners
of the procedures for seeking return of their property. The Court
of Appeals' analysis would render the notice required by this
Federal Rule-and by every analogous state statute-inadequate as a
constitutional matter. In the shadow of this unwavering state and
federal tradition, the Court of Appeals' holding is all the more
untenable; to sustain it, we would be required to find that due
process requires notice that not one State or the Federal
Government has seen fit to require, in the context of law
enforcement practices that have existed for centuries.
Respondents urge that if we cannot uphold the Court of Appeals'
broad notice requirement, we should, at least, affirm the Court of
Appeals' judgment on the narrower ground that the notice provided
respondents was inadequate because it did not provide them with the
factual information-specifically, the search warrant number-they
needed to invoke their judicial remedies. The District Court,
however, made an explicit factual finding that respondents failed
to establish that they needed the search warrant number to file a
court motion seeking return of their property:
"Perkins argues that this [court] procedure was not available to
him because he did not know the number of the warrant pursuant to
which his property was seized. Unfortunately for Perkins, there is
no evidence either way about whether one must have the warrant
number in order to obtain a court order releasing seized prop-
244
Appendix to opinion of the Court
erty. Defendants assert that it is not necessary, that as long
as the claimant can sufficiently identify the property he seeks (i.
e., by providing the date of the warrant, the name of the
seizing agency and officer, and the identity of the issuing court
and judge, all of which information was in Perkins' possession),
the court will release it. Plaintiffs want the Court simply to
assume that if Perkins had filed a request with the court, it would
have been denied because he did not have the warrant number. But
there is no evidence to support that speculation." No. CV 93-7084
SVW, App. to Pet. for Cert. E6.
This finding undermines the factual predicate for respondents'
alternative argument, and we need not discuss it further.
The judgment of the Court of Appeals is reversed, and the case
is remanded for further proceedings consistent with this
opinion.
It is so ordered.
APPENDIX TO OPINION OF THE COURT Federal and State Laws
Governing Execution of Search Warrants and Procedures for Return of
Seized Property
Fed. Rule Crim. Proc. 41(d); Ala. Code § 15-5-11 (1995); Ala.
Rule Crim. Proc. 3.11 (1996); Alaska Stat. Ann. § 12.35.025 (1996);
Alaska Rule Crim. Proc. 37 (1998); Ariz. Rev. Stat. Ann. §§ 13-3919
to 13-3922 (1989); Ark. Rule Crim. Proc. 13.3 (1998); Cal. Penal
Code Ann. § 1535 (West 1982); Colo. Rev. Stat. § 16-3-305 (1997);
Colo. Rule Crim. Proc. 41 (1997); Conn. Gen. Stat. Ann. §§ 54-33c,
54-36f (West Supp. 1998); Del. Ct. Common Pleas Rule Crim. Proc. 41
(1997); Del. Super. Ct. Rule Crim. Proc. 41 (1997); D. C. Code Ann.
§ 23-524 (1996); D. C. Super. Ct. Rule Crim. Proc. 41 (1998); Fla.
Stat. Ann. § 933.11 (West Supp. 1998); Ga. Code Ann. §§ 17-5-25,
17-5-29 (1990); Haw. Rule Penal Proc.
245
41 (1997); Idaho Code §§ 19-4413, 19-4415, 19-4416 (1997); Idaho
Rule Crim. Proc. 41 (1998); Ill. Compo Stat. Ann., ch. 725, §§
5/108-6, 5/108-10 (West 1992); Ind. Code Ann. §§ 3533-5-2 to
35-33-5-7 (West 1998); Iowa Code Ann. § 808.8 (West 1994); Kan.
Stat. Ann. §§ 22-2506, 22-2512 (1988 and Supp. 1997); Ky. Rule
Crim. Proc. 13.10 (1993); La. Code Crim. Proc. Ann., Art. 166 (West
1991); Me. Rule Crim. Proc. 41 (1998); Md. Rule Crim. Proc. 4-601
(1997); Mass. Ann. Laws, ch. 276, §§ 1 to 4 (Law Co-op. 1992 ed.
and Supp. 1998); Mich. Compo Laws Ann. § 780.655 (West 1998); Minn.
Stat. Ann. §§ 626.16, 626.17 (West Supp. 1998); Miss. Code Ann. §
41-29-157(a)(3) (1981), § 99-27-15 (1994); Mo. Ann. Stat. § 542.291
(Vernon Supp. 1998); Mont. Code Ann. §§ 46-5-227, 46-5-301 (1997);
Neb. Rev. Stat. § 29-815 (1995); Nev. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 179.075
(Michie 1997); N. H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 595-A:5 (1986); N. J. Stat.
Ann. § 33:1-61 (West 1994); N. J. Rule Crim. Prac. 3:5-5 (1998); N.
M. Dist. Ct. Rule Crim. Proc. § 5-211 (1996); N. M. Magis. Ct. Rule
Crim. Proc. § 6.208 (1996); N. Y. Crim. Proc. Law § 690.50
(McKinney 1995); N. C. Gen. Stat. §§ 15A-252, 15A-254 (1997); N. D.
Rule Crim. Proc. 41 (Supp. 1987); Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 2933.241
(1997); Ohio Rule Crim. Proc. 41 (1994); Okla. Stat. Ann., Tit. 22,
§§ 1232 to 1234 (West 1986 ed. and Supp. 1998); Ore. Rev. Stat. §§
133.575, 133.595 (1991); Pa. Rules Crim. Proc. 2008, 2009 (1998);
R. 1. Super. Ct. Rule Crim. Proc. 41 (1998); S. C. Code Ann. §
17-13-150 (1985); S. D. Codified Laws §23A-35-10 (Rule 41(d))
(1998); Tenn. Rule Crim. Proc. 41 (1998); Tex. Code Crim. Proc.
Ann. § 18.06 (Vernon 1977 ed. and Supp. 1997); Utah Code Ann. §
77-23-206 (1995); Vt. Rule Crim. Proc. 41 (1993 and Supp. 1998);
Va. Code Ann. § 19.2-57 (Michie 1995); Wash. Super. Ct. Rule Crim.
Proc. 2.3 (1996); w. Va. Code § 62-1A-4 (1997); W. Va. Rule Crim.
Proc. 41 (1997); Wis. Stat. Ann. § 968.17 (West 1985); Wyo. Stat.
Ann. § 7-7-102 (Michie 1997); Wyo. Rule Crim. Proc. 41 (1998).
246
THOMAS, J., concurring in judgment
JUSTICE THOMAS, with whom JUSTICE SCALIA joins, concurring in
the judgment.
I agree with the holding of the majority's opinion,
ante,
at 240, that the Due Process Clause does not compel the city to
provide respondents with detailed notice of state-law
postdeprivation remedies. I write separately, however, because I
cannot endorse the suggestion, in dicta, that "when law enforcement
agents seize property pursuant to warrant, due process requires
them to take reasonable steps to give notice that the property has
been taken so the owner can pursue available remedies for its
return."
Ibid. In my view, the majority's conclusion
represents an unwarranted extension of procedural due process
principles developed in civil cases into an area of law that has
heretofore been governed exclusively by the Fourth Amendment.
As far as I am aware, we have never before suggested that
procedural due process governs the execution of a criminal search
warrant. Indeed, we have assumed that "[t]he Fourth Amendment was
tailored explicitly for the criminal justice system, and its
balance between individual and public interests always has been
thought to define the 'process that is due' for seizures of person
or property in criminal cases .... "
Gerstein v.
Pugh, 420 U.
S. 103, 125, n. 27 (1975). In my view, if the Constitution
imposes a "notice" requirement on officers executing a search
warrant, it does so because the failure to provide such notice
renders an otherwise-lawful search "unreasonable" under the Fourth
Amendment. 1
1 Although we have never addressed the issue, there is near
unanimous agreement among the lower courts that the notice
requirements imposed by Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 41(d)
and the state statutes cited in the Appendix to the majority's
opinion,
ante, at 244-245, are not required by the Fourth
Amendment. See W. LaFave, Search and Seizure:
A Treatise on the Fourth Amendment § 4.12 (3d ed. 1996).
247
We have previously suggested that the procedure for executing
the common-law warrant for stolen goods "furnished the model for a
'reasonable' search under the Fourth Amendment."
Id., at
116, n. 17. At common law, officers executing a warrant for stolen
goods were required to furnish an inventory of property seized. T.
Taylor, Two Studies in Constitutional Interpretation 82 (1969); see
also 2 W. Hawkins, Pleas of the Crown 137 (6th ed. 1787) ("The
officer executing such warrant, if required, shall shew the same to
the person whose goods and chattels are distrained, and shall
suffer a copy thereof to be taken"). Furthermore, the failure to
adhere to this procedure was denounced in
Wilkes v.
Wood, Lofft 1, 98 Eng. Rep. 489 (K. B. 1763), and
Entick v.
Carrington, 19 How. St. Tr. 1029
(C.
P. 1765), two celebrated cases that profoundly influenced the
Founders' view of what a "reasonable" search entailed.2 In both
cases, Lord Camden criticized the fact that the officers executing
the general warrants were not constrained by the safeguards built
up around the warrant for stolen goods. He specifically complained
that the officers did not provide an inventory of the property
seized.3
In light of this historical evidence, I would be open to
considering, in an appropriate case, whether the Fourth Amend-
2 See,
e. g., T. Taylor, Two Studies in Constitutional
Interpretation 39-41 (1969); Amar, Fourth Amendment First
Principles, 107 Harv. L. Rev. 757, 775 (1994); Stuntz, Substantive
Origins of Criminal Procedure, 105 Yale L. J. 393, 400 (1995).
3 See Entick, 19 How. St. Tr., at 1067 ("[T]he same law which
has with so much circumspection guarded the case of stolen goods
from mischief, would likewise in this case protect the subject, by
adding proper checks; ... would require him to take an exact
inventory, and deliver a copy .... [W]ant of [these safeguards] is
an undeniable argument against the legality of the thing");
Wilkes, Lofft, at 19, 98 Eng. Rep., at 499 ("As to the proof
of what papers were taken away, the plaintiff could have no account
of them; and those who were able to have given an account ... have
produced none").
248
THOMAS, J., concurring in judgment
ment mandates the notice requirement adopted by the majority
today. See
Wilson v.
Arkansas, 514 U. S. 927 (1995)
(relying on common-law antecedents to define a "reasonable
search"). I am unwilling, however, to endorse the majority's
ahistorical reliance on procedural due process as the source of the
requirement. I therefore concur in the judgment.
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