California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Frank, 214 Cal.Rptr. 801, 38 Cal.3d 711, 700 P.2d 415 (Cal. 1985):
Warrants which identify "articles ... in general terms [which] are ordinarily innocuous and are not necessarily connected with a crime.... place[ ] no meaningful restriction on the things to be seized." (Aday v. Superior Court (1961) 55 Cal.2d 789, 796, 13 Cal.Rptr. 415, 362 P.2d 47.) A warrant so drafted "is similar to the general warrant permitting unlimited search, which has long been condemned." (Ibid., citations omitted.)
That the warrant place a meaningful restriction on the items to be seized is particularly important in the context of document searches because of the extent to which an individual's privacy could unlawfully be invaded in carrying[38 Cal.3d 746] out a search. As Learned Hand once observed, "the real evil aimed at by the Fourth Amendment is the search itself, that invasion of a man's privacy which consists in rummaging about among his effects to secure evidence against him." (United States v. Poller (2d Cir.1930) 43 F.2d 911, 914.)
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