Exceptions to Warrant Requirement

Question 1

Yes or No

May Parolees be subjected to diminished expectations of privacy if state statutes call for it, contrary to Fourth Amendment rights?

Answer 1

YES!

The Supreme Court has held that the Fourth Amendment is NOT violated by a statute authorizing warrantless searches of a parolee’s home—even absent probable cause—if a statute provides for such searches. The Court reasoned that in such circumstances, the parolee has a diminished expectation of privacy and the government has a heightened need for searching parolees; thus the search is reasonable in a constitutional sense.

Question 2

Automobile Exception

Answer 2

If probable cause justifies a stop of a vehicle, it justifies a search of the entire vehicle (including trunk) that is the subject of their probable cause.

Probable cause to search is defined as reasonable grounds for believing that a particular item of seizure is located at a particular place.