the.com/warrant
A judge's signed permission slip that turns your front door into someone else's hallway.
means An official document, typically signed by a judge or authority, that authorizes a specific action such as a search, arrest, or payment — or, more loosely, the justification that makes something reasonable.
from From the Old North French 'warant' (a protector or guarantor), itself from a Germanic root tied to the idea of guarding and vouching for something. It shares deep ancestry with 'guarantee' — the two are essentially the same word that walked through different doors, one keeping the hard 'w' of the north, the other softening into the 'gu' of central French. So at its heart a warrant is a promise of backing: something that stands behind your action and says, this is allowed.
- plain view
- Anything in sight is fair game, warrant or not
- no-knock
- Police can enter without warning in some cases
- bench warrant
- Skip court and the judge orders your arrest
- probable cause
- Required, but its bar is famously low
- expiration
- Many warrants never expire until served
search warrant for mar-a-lago — fbi executed search warrant on donald trump's florida residence on august 8, 2022