Maryland v. Macon

The Court held that “[A]bsent some action taken by government agents that can properly be classified as a “search” or a “seizure,” the Fourth Amendment rules designed to safeguard First Amendment freedoms do not apply.” The defendant does not have an expectation of privacy in areas where the public has been invited to peruse wares for sale. Therefore, the officer’s entry into the store and examining materials for sale cannot be considered a “search.”

Nor did the Court consider the purchase of the magazines a seizure (defined as a “meaningful interference with an individual’s possessory interests” in United States v. Jacobsen). The defendant “voluntarily transferred any possessory interest he may have had in the magazines to the purchaser upon the receipt of the funds.” Therefore, these actions cannot be deemed a Fourth Amendment seizure.