Unfortunately for
privacy itself, the Fourth Amendment does permit searches and seizures that are considered to be reasonable. In practice, this means that the police may override(不顾, 不考虑(某人的意见,决定,愿望等))your
privacy concerns and conduct a search of your home, barn, car, boat, office, personal or business documents, bank account records, trash barrel or wherever, if:
· the police have probable cause to believe they can find evidence that you committed a crime, and a judge issues a search
warrant (see Section II), or
· the search is proper without a
warrant because of the particular circumstances.
2. Are All "Searches" Subject to Fourth Amendment Protection?
No. American judges have written thousands of opinions interpreting the Fourth Amendment and explaining what a "reasonable" search is. But before getting to that question, another question must be answered first. Did the search in question
violate the defen-dant's
privacy in the first place? Or more
precisely, as framed(构成, 设计, 制定) by the U.S. Supreme Court, did the
defendant have a "
legitimateexpectation of
privacy" in the place or thing searched? (Katz v. U.S., 1967.) If not, then no "search" occurred for the purpose of Fourth Amendment protection. If, however, a
defendant did have a reasonable
expectation of
privacy, then a search did occur, and the search must have been a reasonable one.
Courts use a two-part test (fashioned by the U.S. Supreme Court) to determine whether, at the time of the search, the
defendant had a
legitimateexpectation of
privacy in the place or things searched.
· Did the person subjectively (actually) expect some degree of
privacy?
· Is the person's
expectationobjectively reasonable, that is, one that society is willing to recognize?
Only if the answer to both questions is "yes" will a court go on to ask the next,
ultimate question: Was the search reasonable or unreasonable?
For example, a person who uses a public restroom expects not to be spied upon (the person has a subjective
expectation of
privacy) and most people-including judges and juries-would consider that
expectation to be reasonable (there is an
objectiveexpectation of
privacy as well). Therefore, the
installation of a hidden video camera by the police in a public restroom will be considered a "search" and would be subject to the Fourth Amendment's
requirement of reasonableness.
On the other hand, when the police find a weapon on the front seat of a car, it is not a "search" for Fourth Amendment purposes because it is very
unlikely that the person would think that the front seat of the car is a private place (a subjective
expectation of
privacy is
unlikely), and even if the person did, society is not willing to extend the protections of
privacy to that particular
location (no
objectiveexpectation of
privacy).
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