Do Warrants Matter?

Authors

Max J. Minzner, University of New Mexico - School of LawFollow
Christopher M. Anderson

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

9-2013

Abstract

We examine traditional criminal wiretaps to determine whether the 4th Amendment's warrant requirement limits law enforcement. We develop a formal model relating law enforcement's decision to pursue a wiretap to its exogenous cost, probability of yielding evidence, and the expected value of that evidence. We use the model to analyze success rates of all traditional federal wiretaps initiated 1997-2004. We find budget constraints cause law enforcement to pursue only taps that are particularly likely to succeed. Thus, eliminating the warrant requirement for traditional wiretaps would matter little, and the significance of a warrant requirement for new investigative programs, such as the Terrorist Surveillance Program, depends on budget.

Publication Title

Review of Law and Economics

Volume

9

Issue

2

First Page

169

Recommended Citation

Max J. Minzner & Christopher M. Anderson, Do Warrants Matter?, 9 Review of Law and Economics 169 (2013).
Available at: https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/law_facultyscholarship/580