Defendants in Virginia who enter a plea deal can be asked to sign away their Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable search and seizure in exchange for reduced charges or sentencing, Bolts reports. The practice, known as a Fourth Amendment waiver, permits police to search a person, their home, or vehicle for a specified number of years after a conviction, even if they’ve completed their sentence of incarceration or parole, and regardless of proof they committed a crime.
Across the country, roughly 95 percent of cases in state courts are resolved through plea bargains. Prosecutors say the waivers improve public safety. Colette McEachin, the commonwealth attorney for the city of Richmond since 2019, told Bolts the waivers are “very effective” in resolving cases and put people “on notice” once they’re released from incarceration. But defense attorneys say the policy protects police who violate the Constitution. “It encourages bad policing,” Lauren Whitley, chief public defender for Fredericksburg, Spotsylvania, King George, and Stafford counties, told Bolts. “Fourth Amendment waivers give [police] free rein to do whatever they want.”