4th Amendment Flashcards
4th Amendment
The right of people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated
Katz v. US (What is a search?)
D was convicted of transmitting gaming info via telephone based on evidence obtained by FBI agents who had attached a listening device to a public telephone. 4th amendment protects all communications that a person does not knowingly expose to the public. Two-Prong Test (whether there has been a search): 1) Did the D have an actual or subjective expectation of privacy? 2) If so, is that expectation of privacy a reasonable one? If yes, then 4th amendment applies
False Friend Rule
One who discusses criminal activity with another has no justifiable expectation that conversations will not be reported to police.
Smith v. Maryland (pen register)
Police installed a pen register at telephone company to monitor calls made from D’s telephone without a warrant. An individual assumes the risk of disclosure of info knowingly conveyed to a third party; pen register only discloses numbers not content of conversations…limited intrusion
Dog Sniff Test
Limited intrusion and thus not a violation of the 4th amendment. Does not require opening luggage, does not expose non-contraband items that would remain hidden from public view, only discloses presence or absence of narcotics, owner not subjected to embarrassment and inconvenience entailed in more intrusive investigative methods
Open Field
Police entry of an open field does not implicate the 4th amendment. An open field may include any unoccupied or undeveloped area outside of the curtilage.
Curtilage
Whether area in question is so intimately tied to home itself that it should be placed under home’s umbrella of 4th amendment protection. Factors: proximity of area claimed to be curtilage to the home, whether the area is included within an enclosure surrounding the home, nature of uses to which area is put, steps taken by resident to protect area from observation from people passing by. It is unreasonable to expect home to be constitutionally protected from aerial surveillance of curtilage.
Kyllo v. US
Federal agents used a thermal imaging device from street outside Kyllo’s residence to determine amount of heat emanating from house was consistent with presence of high-temperature lamps used to cultivate marijuana. The expectation of privacy safe-guarded by 4th amendment protects one’s actions within his home. Use of a device not used by general public to obtain evidence emanating from the interior of a residence that cannot otherwise be obtained without physical intrusion constitutes a search…if technology is readily available to the public, might not be considered a search
US v. Knotts & US v. Karo
Person traveling in an automobile on public thoroughfares has no reasonable expectation of privacy in his movements from one place to another. Monitoring a private residence, a location not open to visual surveillance, violates 4th amendment
US v. Jones
Agents attached a GPS tracking device to a suspect’s vehicle when he came under suspicion of trafficking narcotics. A search within the meaning of the 4th amendment occurs at a minimum when government obtains info by physically intruding on a constitutionally protected area. Does not overrule Katz, just supplements it in respect of electronic surveillance being put on something that a person owns, making it a violation of the 4th amendment.
US v. Karo (What is a seizure?)
Federal agent installed a beeper in a container to be shipped to Karo in order to track drug smuggling activity. Seizure of property requires a meaningful interference with a possessory interest. Seizure of a person occurs when officer, by means of physical force or show of authority, has in some way restrained the liberty of a person.
