<Tr> <Td> <Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> </Td> </Tr> <Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> <P> The Fourth Amendment (Amendment IV) to the United States Constitution prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures . It requires governmental searches and seizures to be conducted only upon issuance of a warrant, judicially sanctioned by probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, particularly describing the place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized . It is part of the Bill of Rights and was adopted in response to the abuse of the writ of assistance, a type of general search warrant issued by the British government, and a major source of tension in pre-Revolutionary America . The Fourth Amendment was introduced in Congress in 1789 by James Madison, along with the other amendments in the Bill of Rights, in response to Anti-Federalist objections to the new Constitution . Congress submitted the amendment to the states on September 28, 1789 . By December 15, 1791, the necessary three - fourths of the states had ratified it . On March 1, 1792, Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson announced the adoption of the amendment . </P> <P> Because the Bill of Rights did not initially apply to the states, and federal criminal investigations were less common in the first century of the nation's history, there is little significant case law for the Fourth Amendment before the 20th century . The amendment was held to apply to the states in Mapp v. Ohio (1961). </P>

When was the 4th amendment proposed and ratified