The Online Criminal Justice Degree Project
The Online Criminal Justice Degree Project seeks to provide a comprehensive look at the criminal justice system. Their website features comprehensive information on a wide variety of subjects, including digital information and the criminal justice system, ethics and justice, TSA and government waste, among other subjects.
The website also features useful information about police procedure and criminal procedure, including interrogation and the applicability of Miranda rights.
On Search and Seizure –
The Fourth Amendment of the Bill of Rights provides protection from search and seizure, stating: “The right of people to be secure in their persons, houses, paper, 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 person or things to be seized.”
Since it is unreasonable searches and seizures that are prohibited, the legality of a search is determined by ab standard of reasonable logic, framed by the probable cause requirement that demands an officer must have a very good reason to conduct a search without a warrant. The Fourth Amendment is generally interpreted to require that a warrant must be
obtained for a search whenever it is practicable to do so.The Supreme Court has ruled that a suspect must have “reasonable expectation of privacy” in order to press charges for unreasonable search and seizure. Of course, this means it is up to the courts as to whether a suspect with a ten-foot tall fence has a reasonable expectation that people would not what was going on behind it. Is it unreasonable for the suspect to expect police to fly above his house in public airspace and take pictures of his or her back yard. Does the protection against unreasonable searches ultimately favor a suspect’s privacy rights?
