G. M. Leasing Corp. v. United States

The Court held the warrantless automobile seizures, which occurred in public streets, parking lots, or other open areas, involved no invasion of privacy and were constitutional. The property was validly subject to seizure and securing the property in public did not invoke any further privacy interest of the defendant’s. However, the warrantless entry into the privacy of the defendant’s office violated the Fourth Amendment, since “except in certain carefully defined classes of cases, a search of private property without proper consent is ‘unreasonable’ unless it has been authorized by a valid search warrant.” The Fourth Amendment protects business premises, and corporations enjoy Fourth Amendment protections.