Questions tagged [fourth-amendment]
The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits unreasonable search and seizure by law enforcement; in most cases, it requires police to obtain a search warrant before conducting a search, and requires police to show probable cause to get a warrant.
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Is this a fourth amendment violation? Apartment entered without warrant
Early this morning I returned home to my NYC apartment and saw roughly a dozen officers outside, a number scaling down the fire escape.
Apparently they had entered my apartment through the window &...
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In the US, can the police be forced to release a suspect because their location was obtained in violation of the 4th amendment?
Imagine the following scenario:
Alice commits a murder. There are multiple witnesses to the murder, a video of the crime, fingerprints, DNA traces, etc. It's a slam dunk case by any reasonable ...
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Can a person be charged the same as if they were crossing the international border at internal checkpoints, or what can they be charged with?
Building off this question, if a person is travelling with something that is for personal use that wouldn't be allowed across the border, would they be charged as if they were crossing the ...
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How do internal border checkpoints with warrantless searches fit with the 4th amendment?
Some amendment rulings consider things not taken into account at the time they were written, but I would think they were well aware of border checkpoints at the time even, and the idea for internal ...
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If an unlawful search uncovers evidence unrelated to the subject of the search, can the subject have the evidence suppressed?
So, I binged on the Illustrated Guide To Law a while back, and I have been wondering about this page. In it, a defendant's right to object to a search is denied because he didn't have standing to ...
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Did cops break the law by entering a rental home when invited by one party and denied by another?
This story brought up a bit of a debate on the legality of MD cops entering a rental home when one renter originally stated that they could not enter but another later said they could.
As I understand ...
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4th Amendment violation during a terry stop?
Lets say Bob is walking down the street, somewhere in the US. A police officer stops and detains Bob. Bob has not broken any laws. The officer asks Bob for an ID and he refuses.
Terry v. Ohio 392 U.S. ...
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Before Terry, did the Fourth Amendment require a warrant for all searches and seizures or only the "unreasonable" ones?
I'm trying to understand the direct meaning of the Fourth Amendment as best as possible. The Amendment states the following (emphasis added):
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, ...
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Does the exclusionary rule attach to the illegality of the search or to the person whose rights were violated?
Police blatantly illegally searches Bob's house and finds very strong evidence that Bob and Rob independently committed a horrific crime each. A variation: the crime is the same and Bob and Rob ...
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Why isn't FBI's access to our data against the right of privacy?
In many blogs, it's said that your search history may get you in jail, like Can Your Internet Search History Get You Arrested and Internet Searches That Could Get You Arrested. Seems that FBI can have ...
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Do police need to present warrant prior to seizure?
In the United States, suppose a warrant was required for a seizure and the police properly obtained one.
Do the law enforcement officials who execute the warrant need to present that warrant prior to ...
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If a law is blatantly unconstitutional, is a search warrant based on that law valid?
Applications for search warrants are typically ex parte. In such a proceeding the person who owns the property to be searched and/or seized cannot challenge the unconstitutional laws that form the ...
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What is the case law on the admissibility of warrantless drone footage in court?
There's some government agencies that are using drones to gather footage of places not usually viewable by naked eye by people at ground level.
These agencies' reasoning is that if a person lawfully ...
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Does the activation of a burglar alarm give police cause to enter a house without a warrant?
If police are advised that a burglar alarm has been "set off," does that in itself mean police can intrude into the home to determine the cause of the alarm, absent evidence to the contrary?
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Does California v. Greenwood apply to trash still on private property?
In the 1988 case California v. Greenwood, the U.S. Supreme Court held that no warrant is needed to search or seize garbage that is placed on the street for collection, as there is "no expectation ...