In 1787, the fathers of our country met at the Philadelphia Convention to ratify the document
that would soon be known as "The Constitution of the United States of America". This
Constitution was to be the supreme law of the land. Our Constitution was set up in order to form
a more perfect union, and to give the people under its provision certain unalienable rights.
Among the rights granted to the people are: the right to free speech, the right to keep and bear
arms, and the right of the people to be protected from unreasonable searches and seizures. Today
I will demonstrate for you how the Constitution has become only a small stumbling block in the
Federal Government's efforts to increase its power through the use of legal precedents.
A prime example of how the government pirouettes around the Constitution is seen in the
case of Chimel versus The Supreme Court of California. On March 27, 1969 several police
officers showed up on the petitioner's (Chimel) doorstep to arrest him on charges of burglary.
Upon answering the doorbell the petitioner was served with an arrest warrant. Shortly after the
arrest, while still at the petitioners house, the officers asked if they could have a "look around".
The petitoner knew his rights, and that the officers had no search warrant, so he respectfully
denied their request. This was of no consequence to the officers. They went ahead and
unlawfully searched his three-bedroom house top to bottom, leaving no piece of personal
A few months later the petitioner's case was plead in a California District Court. At the
petitioner's trial the illegally seized items were used against him. He was convicted. Unhappy
with the district court's ruling, he appealed to The California Supreme Court. Upon
consideration, the Supreme Court affirm
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