The Case

Dollree Mapp who lived in Cleveland, OH was arrested for having pornography photos, videos and books in her house. The police only found this after breaking into her house to search for a suspected bomber. The first time the police came she would not let them in because they had no search warrant. They came back with a piece of paper claiming it was a search warrant; they quickly flashed it in front of her instead of letting her examine it. Later she found out it wasn't a real search warrant. After the police entered her house they dragged her up the stairs to search her bedroom. Finding nothing, they searched her basement to find all of the illegal photos, etc. After this the police handcuffed and arrested her and took her to jail. Mapp soon took her case to the Supreme Court stating her right to the Fourth Amendment "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause." Mapp did not win this case because the Fourth Amendment doesn't specify when a search is "unreasonable", especially when other illegal evidence is found, like in Mapp's case.