“Our constitutional rights are worth only the paper they are written on unless we understand and exercise them.” – Nadine Strossmen, President, American Civil Liberties Union

As an American citizen you are protected from unreasonable searches and seizures by the 4th amendment, but police are not required to tell you that you have this right. This means that anytime a police officer asks to search your vehicle, your house or your persons, you have the right to say NO. Too many people think saying no to an officer’s request for a search is probable cause to be searched, but this is simply not true.

There are a lot of resources available to help you understand your rights as a US citizen, and we’ve provided links to a lot of them below. Every citizen should know ALL of their rights, especially when dealing with the police.

Files:

Police at Home Advice – A card to put on the back of your front door explaining what you should do if the police are at your door. Everyone should have one on their door, so cut one out for your door, and one for your friend’s door. (The file is a .pdf format, you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view it.)

Links:

Flex Your Rights – Organization that made Busted: The Citizen’s Guide to Suriving Police Encounters. Their website goes into detail what your rights are, and the various ways you will have to assert them depending on the situation. They also discuss why you have the rights you do, including discussing Supreme Court Decisions that have weighed in on the matter.

American Civil Liberties Union – the ACLU actively works to protect your rights through both policy and legal work. If you ever feel like your rights have been violated, then do not hesitate to contact the ACLU. Their website also has resources to help you know what your rights are, and how to exercise them properly.