Illegal Searches in Foreign Countries

A reader complained of an illegal search in his home country of Colombia.  He wants to know what he can do about it in the United States. Nothing. If you are not a U.S. citizen and you suffer an illegal search in your own country, you do not have the protection to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures guaranteed by the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution. That rule was decided by the Supreme Court in the Verdugo case. Using treaties to get around the Verdugo decision, though creative, will not work in a country as ethnocentric as the U.S. The U.S. Supreme Court gets criticized even if it quotes language from foreign opinions. Some crazy conservatives think U.S. wisdom is the only wisdom that counts.

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