Skip to main content

Search from vocabulary

Content language

Concept information

Preferred term

open fields doctrine  

Definition

  • In interpreting the idea of “reasonableness” within the Fourth Amendment, courts have determined that the government is not required to secure warrants for searches of open fields. The concept, which resembles the plain view exception to the warrant requirement, is not, however, completely luminous, and is arguably in tension with other Fourth Amendment doctrines. [Source: Encyclopedia of the Fourth Amendment; Open Fields Doctrine]

Broader concept

Belongs to group

URI

https://concepts.sagepub.com/social-science/concept/open_fields_doctrine

Download this concept: