Lo-Ji Sales, Inc. v. New York (1978)
- Docket
- 78-511
- Decided
- 1978-01-01
Summary
Question: Did the search of the adult bookstore with an open-ended warrant violate the First, Fourth, and Fourteenth Amendments? Conclusion: Yes as to the Fourth Amendment. Chief Justice Warren E. Burger delivered the opinion of a unanimous court, reversing and remanding. The Supreme Court held that the Fourth Amendment did not permit a search with an open-ended warrant that left the determination of what was obscene fully in the discretion of the officials conducting the search. The Court also held that the search was not justified under the theory that the store owner had no legitimate expectation of privacy because the items were displayed at a store open to the general public. Merely inviting the public to enter does not give consent to wholesale searches and seizures that do not conform to the Fourth Amendment.