Cleveland police break into Dollree Mapp's home without a warrant, searching for a bombing suspect; find obscene materials instead and arrest her

Three Cleveland police officers arrived at Dollree Mapp's home on May 23, 1957, claiming to have information that a bombing suspect was hiding there and that a large amount of illegal lottery equipment was inside. When Mapp refused entry without a warrant, the officers forcibly broke down the door. They produced a paper they claimed was a warrant — later determined not to be — and searched the entire house, including her bedroom and a trunk in the basement, where they found obscene books and photographs. Mapp was arrested not for the bombing suspect or gambling equipment, but for possession of obscene materials.