Law and Society test 2 Flashcards
Exclusionary Rule
Law that prohibits use of ILLEGALLY OBTAINED evidence
- “fruit of the poisoned tree”= if interrogation, confession or evidence is obtained illegally, it cannot be used in court case/ trial
Probable Cause
Officer must have set of facts, information, circumstances, or conditions that would lead a reasonable person to believe an offense was committed and that the accused committed the offense
-Has to show why you believe informant/ information is credible
Warrantless Searches
Emergency Situations= danger to the public or in hot pursuit, police do not have to wait for judge to sign off/ allow a warrant
Hot Pursuit= police can continue to follow/ search without a warrant, if person is fleeing from non-violent matters then police have to have a search warrant
Stop and Frisk= police stop and pat down person to see if any weapons are on them, have to have REASONABLE SUSPICION, plain sight and plain touch, police can take things out of your pockets and charge you with a crime
Search incident to arrest= when police are searching they can search you and your immediate area (lunge distance/area) (ex: bags, but police cannot go through your phone without a warrant)
Car Searches= police can search cars without a warrant if they have probable cause to pull you over (traffic violations)
Check Points= police checking for DUI or insurance, treating every car exactly the same, DO NOT have to have probable cause (public safety issue), has to prove car is mobile/ moving
Consent given= can search without a warrant if consent is given by homeowner/ roommates
Plain View= gun on table and blinds are open, police can come in and collect that evidence
Open fields=police can collect evidence if found on property outside your property (CURTLIAGE= land and buildings immediately surrounding a dwelling, anything outside of fence)
Plain touch= same as stop and frisk
Electric surveillance= if police fly over and see evidence in backyard, they do not have to have a warrant to obtain it bc it is in “plain sight”
Abandoned property= throw away something in garbage, police can obtain it without a warrant (if on the street not next to your house)
Speech in Schools
- speech in schools can be restricted
- Tinker case (1969): Ruled that the armbands that were being used to protest were protected speech because
the school couldn’t prove that it was disruptive. The standard set by this becomes the main test for issues in the future - Bethel v. Fraser (1986): crude speech that is disruptive in school is not protected by the First Amendment
- Hazelwood v. Kohlmer (1988): schools have the right to censor a school-sponsored newspaper
- Morse v. Fredrick (2007): schools have the right to ban things that condone or promote drug paraphernalia
- 3 main things to consider: off-campus speech is the responsibility of the parent; anything off-campus is fine,
even if it’s about the school, and school needs to protect “unpopular” opinions of students
Religious Clauses and Courts Approach
No one can discriminate or fire anyone based on religious grounds (failing drug tests due to religious events, fire someone for not being able to work on church days, or refuse medical/ life sustaining treatment based on religion (gov is 3rd parent for every child), pull kids out of school for religious reasons is constitutional with evidence)
- Government can regulate “new religions” (Reynolds v. US (1879))
- religion can be anything, regardless of how crazy, just must be “sincere belief”
- Can’t use religion to get out of stuff (e.g., against my religion to do homework)
- “least restrictive means” – Brunfield v. Brown (1961)
- moves away from the secular test to least restrictive, from 1980-1990, Court chips away at Sherbert Test
- Congress passed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, meant to restore Sherbert
- Boerne v. Flores (1997) challenges RFRA, Congress wants the Smith Standard, rules RFRA is unconstitutional
Prayer in schools
students have right to choose to participate in school prayer, school cannot force it or punish for not reciting prayer, or have one specific priest from a religion to say prayer at school
-Supreme Court has not ruled on Pledge of Allegiance
-has been ruled that school-sponsored prayer is a violation of First Amendment rights
- Wallce v. Jaffree (1984): SCOTUS ruled that Alabama’s prayer and meditation statute was unconstitutional, as it
failed that secular purpose test and found that the statute’s purpose was to establish religion in public schools,
which violated the Establishment Clause
Parents, Children and religion
Government is 3rd parent to every child, parents cannot refuse life sustaining medical treatment on religious grounds or force children to work underaged based on religious grounds
- Courts have ruled that protecting children is more important than protecting religious freedoms. E.g., children
cannot be made to sell religious literature due to child labor laws - Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972): Court ruled that the government can’t force school attendance if it’s against
religious beliefs, but there must be evidence of true and honest belief - Bob Jones University v. US (1983): the university had a rule against interracial dating, they were sued, saying
they shouldn’t have a tax-exempt status due to a racist policy. SCOTUS ruled against the school, citing that there
was a “compelling interest” in eradicating racism in education
Libel
written word defaming a person’s reputation
Police Discretion
-Decide when to act and when not to
-seriousness of the crime
-attitude of wrongdoer
-relationship between parties (family or not)
-Departmental policies (mandatory arrest policies, domestic violence and car chases)
-officer’s supervisor and peers
-situational (if there is record of the occurrence or not)
Race:
-police are trustworthy
-experience and training
-knowledgeable about criminal behavior
-potential danger (leeway in decision making prevents danger)
Types of Police Agencies
State Police= non city areas, same as local officers, has crime labs and training academies , highway patrol and traffic enforcement
County Police (sheriff’s office)= duties do not vary much from local police, running jails and court security, serving summons
Local Police=in charge of everything local unless it is a federal or state crime, traffic enforcement, narcotics, vice control
Police Role (local and sheriffs office)= enforce laws, provide services, prevent crimes, preserve peace, protect civil liberties and rights, handling minor distrubences
Search Warrant Requirements
Particularity= search warrant must be particular in what they want and what they want to look for, who it is and where they expect to find the evidence
Probable Cause= officer must have set of facts, information, circumstances, or conditions that would lead a reasonable person to believe an offense was committed and that the accused committed the offense
Sources of Probable Cause=
1.personal observation=circling around the same building, can be pulled over
2. Information=if you talked to the victim or witnesses can establish probable cause
3. Evidence=physical evidence, blood DNA)
4. Association= associating with known criminals can sometimes not be enough to warrant probable cause for a search warrant
Reasonableness= search has to be related to its goals, gets stopped at the border, cannot search glove box because no person would fit in a glove box, can only search backseat and trunk
Knock and Announce= police must knock and announce their presence before entering with a search warrant, must wait 15-20 seconds with no response to enter, time of day changes time length they must wait before entering, evidence found after search with no response can be used in court
Types of Constitutional Interpretations
Original Intent= “originalist”, what the writers of the Constitution meant to them at that time
Literalism= “plain-meaning”, literally what does the law say (words), not worried about intent
Broad and Open= justices get to decide what the law means and if there are any “implied rights”, takes into account how society has changed, what the law means to people now
-Framers wanted the Constitution to be a living document (continue on), open for interpretation and changed as years go on
Prior Restraint
-cannot stop speech or words from being spoken or published, must wait until after to take action against it
Types of Incorporations
-14th amendment makes it clear that everyone has equal protection under the law
Total Incorporation= Every single right the federal government guarantees, the states have to as well
Selective Incorporation= Supreme Court will pick 1 right or law at a time for us to have, ability of the federal government to prevent states from enacting law that violate Constitutional rights of citizens
Total Plus= Every single right plus additional rights given to us by the states
Selective Plus= WHAT U.S. HAS NOW, supreme court hears cases to see what rights the 14th amendment gives us throughout the states
Types of Civil Law
Torts= personal injury attorney (personal property) (morris bart)
Property= ownership and acquisition and acquisition of property
Contracts= legally binding agreement
Family= child custody, inheritance and adoption
Juvenile= children committing crimes
