Hester v. United States

Hester v. United States, 265 U.S. 57 (1924), is a decision by the United States Supreme Court, which established the open-fields doctrine.^[1] In an opinion written by Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, the Court held that "the special protection accorded by the Fourth Amendment to the people in their 'persons, houses, papers and effects', is not extended to the open fields."^[2]

Hester v. United States
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued April 24, 1924 Decided May 5, 1924
Full case name	Hester v. United States
Citations	265 U.S. 57 (more) 44 S. Ct. 445; 68 L. Ed. 898; 1924 U.S. LEXIS 2577
Holding
"The special protection accorded by the Fourth Amendment to the people in their 'persons, houses, papers and effects', is not extended to the open fields."
Court membership
Chief Justice William H. Taft Associate Justices Joseph McKenna · Oliver W. Holmes Jr. Willis Van Devanter · James C. McReynolds Louis Brandeis · George Sutherland Pierce Butler · Edward T. Sanford
Case opinion
Majority	Holmes, joined by unanimous
Laws applied
U.S. Const. amend. IV

See also

• List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 265
• Katz v. United States (1967)
• Oliver v. United States (1984)
• Open fields doctrine