Fourth Amendment & Privacy Laws Flashcards

A surveillance technician is hired by a private investigator to install a GPS tracker on a suspect's vehicle parked on a public street without the owner's consent. Under United States v. Jones (2012), this constitutes:

Answer: A Fourth Amendment search because it involved physical trespass to attach the device

Jones held that physically attaching a GPS device to a vehicle is a trespassory intrusion constituting a Fourth Amendment search requiring a warrant.

The 'curtilage' of a home receives Fourth Amendment protection. Curtilage is best defined as:

Answer: The area immediately surrounding the home that shares its intimate activities

Curtilage refers to the area immediately surrounding and associated with a home, considered part of the home itself for Fourth Amendment purposes.

Under the 'open fields' doctrine established in Hester v. United States, which area generally does NOT receive Fourth Amendment protection?

Answer: Fields and wooded areas beyond the curtilage of the home

The open fields doctrine holds that land beyond the curtilage, even if fenced and posted with 'No Trespassing' signs, does not carry a reasonable expectation of privacy.

A CST installs pole cameras on public utility poles that continuously record a public street and driveway for six months. The primary legal concern is:

Answer: Whether prolonged surveillance aggregates into a constitutional search

Extended pole camera surveillance can raise Fourth Amendment concerns because long-term monitoring of a home's exterior may reveal intimate details beyond what brief observation would capture.

The 'plain view' doctrine allows law enforcement to seize evidence without a warrant when:

Answer: Officers are lawfully present and the incriminating nature of the item is immediately apparent

Plain view requires that officers be lawfully in the position to view the item and that its incriminating character be immediately apparent.

When a private employer installs video cameras in a restroom to investigate theft, the primary legal exposure is:

Answer: Invasion of privacy claims and potential criminal liability under state voyeurism statutes

Restrooms are spaces where individuals have a heightened expectation of privacy, and covert video recording there exposes employers to civil and criminal liability under state privacy and voyeurism laws.

Which exception to the Fourth Amendment's warrant requirement allows police to conduct a search when they reasonably believe evidence will be destroyed before a warrant can be obtained?

Answer: Exigent circumstances exception

The exigent circumstances exception permits warrantless searches when there is an urgent need to prevent imminent destruction of evidence.