CONSTITUTIONAL LAW-DUE PROCESS OF LAW-FREEDOM FROM UNREASONABLE SEARCH AND SEIZURE-THE ADMISSIBILITY OF ILLEGALLY SEIZED EVIDENCE

Local police officers entered the private office of petitioner, a practising physician, without a warrant and seized his private books and records. As a result of the information thus obtained, petitioner was convicted of conspiracy to perform an abortion. Petitioner claimed that his constitutional rights were invaded contending that due process of law under the Fourteenth Amendment includes freedom from unreasonable search and seizure and prevents the admission of illegally seized evidence, but this was denied by the Supreme Court of Colorado and the conviction was affirmed. On certiorari to the Supreme Court of the United States, held, affirmed, three justices dissenting.

The due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment guarantees freedom from unreasonable search and seizure by state officials, but does not forbid the admission of evidence obtained in such illegal fashion. Wolf v. Colorado (U.S. 1949) 69 S.Ct. 1359.