How does a judge decide whether a search is reasonable?
The U.S. Constitution provides that “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.” This means that, before a judge will issue a search warrant, a government agent must testify under oath to the judge about what evidence the officer has to justify conducting the search, specifically what the officer is searching for, and where the officer thinks it will be found. Before the judge will issue the warrant, the officer’s testimony must be sufficient to convince a “prudent person” that evidence of a crime or illegal items would likely be found in the search.
