4 ms·

As a non-American, can someone explain to me why the entire constitution wouldn't be applicable upon entering your own country? This makes no sense to me, but

• roywiggins 8y ago
  It's called the "border search exception." It's not exactly that the constitution does not apply, but that certain searches are- in the context of the border- considered "reasonable", that would not be in the interior. The 4th amendment is not an absolute right- a search just has to be "reasonable;" context is a big factor into whether a search is reasonable. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Border_search_exception https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Border_search_exception > This balance at international borders means that routine searches are "reasonable" there, and therefore do not violate the Fourth Amendment's proscription against "unreasonable searches and seizures". According to Wikipedia, there is currently a circuit split* on whether phone searches at the border require individualized suspicion, or can be conducted routinely, without falling foul of the 4th amendment. * (two sets of appeals courts have ruled in contradictory ways; these splits can be resolved by SCOTUS if they choose)