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Question 1

What is the foundation that shapes state criminal regulations?

Answer 1

The constitution. State criminal regulations must meet the requirements of the constitution and its guarantees

Question 2

If there are areas that the constitution is lacking, can state criminal regulations add to it?

Answer 2

Yes

Question 3

Is it possible to have a state criminal law that contravenes the second amendment by banning the possession of handguns at home?

Answer 3

No, because all amendments to the constitution are fully applicable to the states through the due process clause of the 14th amendment

Question 4

What is permitted for inspections and regulatory searches or special-needs searches?

Answer 4

These are an exception to the warrant requirement and can be done without individual suspicion about the person or the place to be searched. They are reasonable if the purpose is not traditional criminal law enforcement. These allow warrantless searches on prison inmates, arrestees who been booked, parolees, and probationers

Question 5

What is the camera balancing theory that applies to the exception to a warrant for inspections and regulatory searches?

Answer 5

This requires a balancing of the need to search against the invasion that it entails. Reasonableness depends on the context of the search. Generally courts uphold searches if there were reasonable grounds to suspect that the search would reveal evidence of a violation of law or school rules.

Question 6

How is reasonableness determined for regulatory searches and inspections?

Answer 6

• Is it traditionally or publicly accepted?
  – Is it essential to get acceptable results?
  – Is it a relatively limited invasion of privacy?
  – Are there procedures to ensure objective selection?

Question 7

What are the elements that are needed for an inspection or a regulatory search?

Answer 7

– a government purpose besides law-enforcement, although eventual prosecution is allowed
– important government interest for something like public safety or border securing
– reduced expectation of privacy of the subject of the search because of his legal status or a heavily regulated activity
– no individual suspicion because it was a universal search from neutral criteria

Question 8

Is it possible for police to stop a single automobile to check their license or registration?

Answer 8

Only if the police officer reasonably believed that the car violated a traffic law. Cops can stop cars at roadblocks to check licenses and registration if every car is stopped or there’s a neutral principle to justify the stoppings. If the stopping is random or dictated by the caprice of the officer, that is improper and anything found is inadmissible under the exclusionary rule

Question 9

If you wanted to do a routine inspection of a housing code on a house, do you need a warrant for this?

Answer 9

Yes, because it is a significant intrusion. An unconsented inspection needs either a warrant or an imminent and substantial threat to life, safety, property.

Question 10

What are the rights of a normal business person with regard to inspections and searches?

Answer 10

They have the right to go about their business free from unreasonable official entries

Question 11

Can closely regulated industries such as fire arms industries be searched without a warrant?

Answer 11

Yes, because inspections are a crucial part of the regulatory scheme and the negligible protections of a warrant are offset by the fact that getting a warrant can frustrate inspection. Plus the dealer has a limited expectation of privacy since he chose to engage in a heavily regulated business and has a federal license which gives notice that the records are subject to inspection

Question 12

Owners of highly regulated industries can expect what?

Answer 12

To have a lower expectation of privacy and for the state’s interest in regulations to be heightened, so warrantless inspections of these properties are reasonable under the fourth amendment.

Question 13

What are some examples of closely regulated industries that would not require a search warrant in order to search?

Answer 13

– mine inspections
– auto junkyards [this is closely regulated, the government has a substantial interest in stopping car theft, and an inspection scheme gives a substitute for the warrant by limiting time, place, and scope]

Question 14

Must welfare recipients submit to warrantless searches of their homes?

Answer 14

Yes, by caseworkers as a condition of getting welfare. The visits are set in intervals and scheduled but they can happen if there’s concern about a child’s welfare

Question 15

What is the expectation of privacy for notebooks and private documents?

Answer 15

These have a higher expectation of privacy because they might contain personal or private thoughts

Question 16

What is the expectation of privacy for body cavity and strip searches?

Answer 16

This is an extraordinary privacy invasion, but it is allowed as an administrative search when an arrestee is in a jail or detention facility

Question 17

If there is a burning building does that create an exigency for a warrantless entry by authorities?

Answer 17

Yes. Your expectation of privacy disappears during a fire. Authorities can inspect the premises to figure out the cause of the fire and have a right to unlimited invasion that is directed at things like heating, ventilation, gas, and electrical systems. They can stay for a reasonable time to investigate after the fire is extinguished, but later reentries require a warrant

Question 18

What is required for a police officer to stop a vehicle to check for their license and registration?

Answer 18

Reasonable suspicion that the motorist is unlicensed or not registered

Question 19

What is required for non-border checkpoints to be legal?

Answer 19

Must be some pattern that minimizes discretion. If the point is to enforce immigration law, combat drunk driving, find witnesses or victims, check licenses and registration, those are all valid.

Question 20

Are sobriety checkpoints legal?

Answer 20

Yes, if each driver is observed to see if he is inebriated that is OK because the state has a strong interest in getting rid of drunk driving and it is only a slight intrusion to drivers.

Question 21

Is it permissible for the Coast Guard to stop vessels on the high seas to do inspections?

Answer 21

Yes. They cannot search private books, papers, or personal belongings, but they can examine safety equipment, document papers, identity numbers, etc. because waterborne commerce has ready access to the open sea

Question 22

Is it permissible for police to do police dog vehicle checkpoints?

Answer 22

No, because the entire purpose is to detect evidence of ordinary criminal wrongdoing

Question 23

Is it permissible for police to set up checkpoints to canvas for witnesses?

Answer 23

Yes, because the purpose has nothing to do with the people in the car committing a crime, but it is just to get their help to provide information