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Informants And The Fourth Amendment: A Reconsideration, Tracey Maclin

UF Law Faculty Publications

This Article argues that the Court's current interpretation of the Fourth Amendment, which sanctions the government's authority to insert secret spies and informants into our lives, is misguided. Part I highlights the historical background of the Fourth Amendment to show why its procedural safeguards are relevant when considering whether the government should be free of constitutional restraint when deploying informants and spies in our homes and offices. Part II will explain and critique the Court's cases on informants. Part III contends that the Court's doctrine on informants rests on a fallacious conception of privacy. As an alternative to the current …