UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT DECISIONS ON-LINE
SILVERTHORNE LUMBER CO., INC. V. UNITED STATES, 251 U. S. 385 (1920)
251 U. S. 385U.S. Supreme Court
Silverthorne Lumber Co., Inc. v. United States, 251 U.S. 385 (1920)
Silverthorne Lumber Co., Inc. v. United States
No. 358
Argued December 12, 1919
Decided January 26, 1920
251 U.S. 385
Syllabus
The Fourth Amendment protects a corporation and its officers from compulsory production of the corporate books and papers for use in a criminal proceeding against them when the information upon which the subpoenas were framed was derived by the Government through a previous unconstitutional search and seizure, planned and executed by its officials under color of a void writ, provided the defense of the Amendment be seasonably interposed, and not first raised as a collateral issue at the trial of the indictment. P. 251 U. S. 391.
The rights of a corporation against unlawful search and seizure are to be protected even if it be not protected by the Fifth Amendment from compulsory production of incriminating documents. P. 251 U. S. 362.
Reversed.
The case is stated in the opinion. clubjuris