People often dismiss it as largely irrelevant, and certainly it doesn't grab the media attention quite like some of the other amendments. And yet, it has plenty of modern implications, including the individual's right to domestic privacy—the idea that people ought to be protected from governmental intrusion into their homes.

Looking around today, how do you think the Founders would view the many and varied intrusions by the government into private homes, even during peacetime?

Doug: It used to be a tenet in British common law that a man's home was his castle and it couldn't be invaded. But now there are many examples of police breaking down peoples' doors — often wrong door — at 3 'o'clock in the morning with just a pre-emptory scream of "Police!" for a warning, and then the battering ram comes out.