Week six summarization

Week Six Summarization

Introduction

The Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution prevents illegal searches and seizures and is one of the most fundamental rights an American citizen has. Although this is a fundamental right shared by all Americans, there are plenty of exceptions to the rule, so it pays to understand how and when the police may search you and seize your property in accordance with the law (Hall, 1982).

The Fourth Amendment and Unreasonable Searches and Seizures

The Fourth Amendment provides:

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

The keyword to notice is "unreasonable", because while Americans are generally protected from intrusive government searches and seizures, there are many "reasonable" searches and seizures that government officers can perform without a warrant that are still on the right side of the law. Whether or not a search or seizure is considered reasonable depends largely on whether you had a right to expect privacy in the first place (Corkery, 2002).

The Fourth Amendment Protects You from Government, not Private, Searches and Seizures

An important distinction to note is that the Fourth Amendment protects you from the government, not from private individuals. The most common example of this is when security personnel seek to search your belongings. While the police may not be able to just rummage inside of your purse, a mall cop can. Perhaps even more shocking to most, is that if the mall cop finds illegal drugs, he or she can turn you and the drugs over to the police and the evidence is admissible. Essentially, a security guard ...