Zurcher v. the Stanford Daily
(p. 523)
436 U.S. 547 (1978)

On April 8th of 1971, a group of students of The Stanford University began protesting the firing of several black employees at the Stanford University Hospital. They seized the administrative office and began a 30-hour sit in. The next day, the protesting turned violent when police broke down the door with a battering ram and began to storm the students, some of which were armed with clubs. Nine officers were injured in the brawl where one suffered a broken shoulder and another was hit repeatedly in the head. The officers on scene were only able to identify 2 of the protestors that were involved.

A representative of school newspaper, The Stanford Daily, was there during the time of the violent protesting and took several pictures of the confrontation. The next day, the newspaper published articles on the brawl as well as releasing some of the pictures that were taken at the scene. Believing that some of the pictures in the possession of a staff reporter would help the authorities determine the identities of the other assailants, the Palo Alto police department obtained a search warrant from the District Attorney. Police entered the building, read documents, examined negatives and sorted through filing cabinets for incriminating evidence on the protestors. The fifteen-minute search produced little to no results. The Stanford Daily then sued on the basis that the search was unconstitutional siting that their first and fourth amendment rights had been violated.

It was held that a state was not prevented from issuing a warrant simply because the person(s) holding the evidence were not believed to have committed the crime. It need only be shown that a reasonable belief exists that the evidence sought is on the property implicated.

A standard issuance of Subpoenas rather than warrants