A general warrant allows law enforcement broad authority to search and seize without individualized suspicion or specific descriptions of the places to be searched or items to be seized. The British Crown's widespread use of general warrants (and 'writs of assistance') in the American colonies was a major catalyst for the American Revolution and directly inspired the drafting of the Fourth Amendment, which strictly requires warrants to be supported by probable cause and to 'particularly describe the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.'
The prohibition of general warrants is the bedrock of digital and physical privacy. Modern debates over technologies like geofence warrants often center on whether they function as modern-day general warrants by sweeping up data from innocent bystanders.
The prohibition of general warrants is the bedrock of digital and physical privacy. Modern debates over technologies like geofence warrants often center on whether they function as modern-day general warrants by sweeping up data from innocent bystanders.