Searches Implicating 4th Amendment Flashcards
Katz Test
To have a protected privacy interest, there must be (1) subjective expectation of privacy by the defendant and (2) a reasonable expectation of privacy.
Use value judgment inquiry of reasonable = given the nature of the individual’s privacy interest in the abstract, would it be inconsistent with goals of a free society to permit this form of police activity to go unregulated? (Weigh (a) the nature of the individual interest in the abstract and (b) the intrusiveness of government investigative activity.)
Private Party Search Doctrine
Not a search - once a private party (non-government) has “destroyed” defendant’s constitutional rights by searching in a perfectly constitutional manner, the government can subsequently “search” within the scope of the private party search without it being a 4th Amendment “search”.
Individual cannot act as an agent of police.
Travels
Not a search - travel on public roads is not a protected privacy interest (only reasonable amount of time)
Traditional Search Analysis
Search that implicates traditionally protected interests (i.e. home, person, papers) is automatically a search
Beeper Surveillance into Home
Search - invasion of home, which is protected as a search under traditional analysis
Pen Register
Not a search - individual knowingly exposing outgoing call information to phone company
Dog-sniff
Not a search - dog smelling smells emanating into public from areas that are protected
Exception = loitering on someone’s curtilage for purposes of dog sniff IS a search
Testing for drugs
Not a search - analogous to dog sniff
Luggage X-Ray
Search - but government has a good reason and individuals consent to it because air travel is not constitutional right
Trash
Not a search - individual exposing bags to the public
Squeezing Soft Luggage
Search - trained government squeezer is more intrusive than a member of the public
Open Fields
Not a search - no reasonable expectation of privacy for activities conducted out of doors in fields
Curtilage
Search - reasonable expectation of privacy because of (1) proximity of area to the home, (2) whether area is within an enclosure surrounding home, (3) nature of the uses to which the area is put, and (4) steps taken by resident to protect the area from observation from passer-bys
Air Surveillance of Curtilage
Not a search - Individual exposes curtilage to commercial airlines flying over so no reasonable expectation of privacy
Blood test
Search - involving search of person (traditional test)
