Fourth Amendment Commons^™

Privacy In The Age Of Platforms: How Digital Advancements Are Outrunning Our Constitution, Haleigh Fagundes

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

This project analyzes the procedural history of Fourth Amendment doctrine in the Supreme Court. This timeline begins with the 1928 case of Olmstead v. United States and proceeds with recent cases that resolve more modern concerns such as location tracking via cell-cite information, as seen in Carpenter v. United States (2018). Prevalent cases are analyzed through both majority and dissenting opinions to demonstrate the entire Courts’ attitude towards the interpretation. Though more recently the Court has moved towards expanding the expectation of privacy that one can assume from the Fourth Amendment, digital privacy has yet to be incorporated. The research …

The Evolution Of Surveillance And The Decline Of Privacy, Alan J. Geyer

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This study directly examines how surveillance law and technology have evolved in the United States and how privacy rights have declined correspondingly. The study specifically focuses on how advancements in surveillance technology have overstepped the boundaries of Fourth Amendment protections and analyzes whether these provisions are adequate for protecting citizens in the modern technological era. The study explores newly employed methods of technological surveillance, such as facial recognition, data collection, and automated license plate readers. It focuses on how government surveillance programs have reshaped legal and ethical understandings of privacy. The changes in surveillance and technology have been analyzed by …

How The 2020 Protests Raises The Issues Of Policing Tactics, Brianna Knibbs

Capstones

With the 2020 Racial protests spreading all across the United States in the wake of the killing of George Floyd, the issues of police tactics used against protesters have raised a lot of questions on how it plays a role into the systematic police racism. In addition to the challenges for those who try to sue police departments.

Dna Analysis: The Answer For Unsolved Cases?, Sarah Hetchler

Master of Arts in Criminal Justice Leadership

DNA analysis has become a crucial part of solving cases. It has developed significantly since its creation in the mid-1980s. The longing for answers within unsolved cases is historically lengthy, leaving traces of distrust and injustice. Criminologists offer a potential solution to the mess created by connecting DNA analysis to protect victims and communities. DNA evidence and analysis can assist in solving cases and provide answers for exonerees. Like public genealogy websites, law enforcement agencies must acknowledge new methods to solve issues. Not only could law enforcement agencies solve and arrest suspects through DNA analysis, but DNA could also provide …

The Ambiguity Of Probable Cause And Its Contentious Application By Police, Dave Sainte-Luce

College Honors Program

It is well documented how our country’s Criminal Justice System has a history of targeting people of color. A lot of this contention is derived from police officers’ behavior when interacting with individuals, yet officers only act upon the laws and legal policies that grant them authority, including probable cause. My thesis addresses the question, how does the fluid and ambiguous nature of probable cause leave the door open for officers to disproportionately target people of color in the United States? While focusing on vehicle, person, and property searches, I first define probable cause, building an understanding of exactly what …

Digitizing The Fourth Amendment: Privacy In The Age Of Big Data Policing, Charles E. Volkwein

Privacy Certificate Student Publications

Today’s availability of massive data sets, inexpensive data storage, and sophisticated analytical software has transformed the capabilities of law enforcement and created new forms of “Big Data Policing.” While Big Data Policing may improve the administration of public safety, these methods endanger constitutional protections against warrantless searches and seizures. This Article explores the Fourth Amendment consequences of Big Data Policing in three parts. First, it provides an overview of Fourth Amendment jurisprudence and its evolution in light of new policing technologies. Next, the Article reviews the concept of “Big Data” and examines three forms of Big Data Policing: Predictive Policing …

Hslda Concerned With More Than Just Homeschool, Griffin S. Kelly

Capstones

My capstone is just one piece of a greater investigation into homeschooling in America. For my piece, my colleague Keith Medelis reported on the Home School Legal Defense Association, a premiere homeschooling advocacy group that provides legal advice to its members and lobbies against any regulations they find restrictive to the homeschooling process.

Our goal was to see exactly what their mission is because beyond homeschooling, the HSLDA advocates for small government, religious (mainly Christian) freedoms and protecting its members from child protective services.

A review of 84 court cases revealed that the HSLDA has occasionally engaged in legal battles …

Heien V. North Carolina And Significant Interpretive Court Cases: An Empirical Examination Of Police Officers’ Perceptions And Knowledge, Michael De Leo

Master of Science in Criminal Justice Theses & (Pre-2016) Policy Research Projects

This empirical study examines legal aspects of policing in relation to the recent, landmark United States Supreme Court case of Heien v. North Carolina. In Heien, the Court found that objectively reasonable mistakes of law by police can support traffic stops. By doing so, it extends the permissible margin of error for stops by law enforcement officers. Due to the potential, far-reaching implications of the Heien decision, including implications for law enforcement and for the Fourth Amendment privacy protections of individuals, it is important to better understand how the lower courts have interpreted and applied Heien. Therefore, …

Harmless Constitutional Error: How A Minor Doctrine Meant To Improve Judicial Efficiency Is Eroding America's Founding Ideals, Ross C. Reggio

CMC Senior Theses

The United States Constitution had been in existence for almost two hundred years before the Supreme Court decided that some violations of constitutional rights may be too insignificant to warrant remedial action. Known as "harmless error," this statutory doctrine allows a court to affirm a conviction when a mere technicality or minor defect did not affect the defendant's substantial rights. The doctrine aims to promote judicial efficiency and judgment finality. The Court first applied harmless error to constitutional violations by shifting the statutory test away from the error's effect on substantial rights to its impact on the jury's verdict. Over …

Perceptions, Knowledge And Experiences Among Police Officers: Traffic Stops, Vehicle Searches And K-9 Involvement, Daniel Ozment

Master of Science in Criminal Justice Theses & (Pre-2016) Policy Research Projects

This survey study explores the perceptions, knowledge and experiences of police “line” officers concerning Fourth Amendment search and seizure norms and applications during traffic stops and vehicles searches, in particular police use of canine units following the landmark United States Supreme Court decision of Rodriguez v. United States. In particular, the study examines issues surrounding the length and scope of a traffic stop by police, including stops with canine involvement. Finally, the study includes an analysis of how federal courts of appeal and Georgia courts have interpreted the Rodriguez decision.

The Legacy Of Slavery And The Continued Marginalization Of Communities Of Color Within The Legal System, Julia N. Alvarez

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The aim of this thesis paper is to demonstrate how the history of slavery in the United States continues to marginalize communities of color. The history of slavery in America was the result of various factors. Some of these factors included but were not limited to; economic, legal, and social. Slavery provided a reliable and self-reproducing workforce. The laws enacted during slavery ensured the continuation of the social order of the time. This social order was based on the generalized understanding that blacks were born into servitude. Those born into slavery were not given the same legal or economic status …

K-12 And The Active Shooter: Principals’ Perceptions Of Armed Personnel In New Jersey District Factor Group Gh Public Schools, Brian P. Kelly

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

The purpose of this study was to explore the predicament school principals face when formulating the best methodology to provide a safe environment for their students and faculty, while simultaneously creating an atmosphere that is conducive to education.

This multiple-case study is a replication of a dissertation published in 2014 which explored a unique phenomenon containing multiple variables within an urban public school district. Conversely, this research study examined suburban public school districts within communities that possessed a median household salary ranging between $86,000 and $105,000, where the socioeconomic status of these schools is identified and delineated by New Jersey …

To Catch A Terrorist: The Improper Use Of Profiling In U.S. Post-9/11 Counterterrorism, Kamillia Crawford

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The attacks of September 11, 2001 (9/11) caused thousands of deaths, national and global panic, and immediate action by the federal government to protect the borders of the United States of America (USA) from terrorism. In response to these attacks, the United States (U.S.) government enacted laws for law enforcement agencies to protect against terrorist activities. Law enforcement agencies are effective in combating terrorism, but their measures contain a major flaw - the improper use of race in profiling to address national security and public safety concerns. Racial profiling is an ineffective measure for preventing terrorism. There are solutions to …

The Snowden Effect: The Conflict In A Free Society, Who Values Privacy Versus Who Values Security?, Matthew C. Blake

Political Science Theses and Capstones

The Obama Administration has come under scrutiny by both the public and Congress, since former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden made known the scope of government surveillance programs being utilized by the U.S. government to gather intelligence on domestic citizens. Snowden’s disclosures about the government’s surveillance practices to the mainstream media began in June 2013. I focus on how public opinion towards the government’s surveillance practices and an individual’s reasonable right to privacy has shifted after revelations made by Edward Snowden on the practices of the NSA. Individuals may show support for more government surveillance in the name …

Perceptions Of Search Consent Voluntariness As A Function Of Race, Rebecca M. Gold

Scripps Senior Theses

The United States Constitution provides its citizens protection from unreasonable searches and seizures from government officials, including police officers, through the Fourth Amendment. This Amendment applies to searches that violate a reasonable expectation of privacy. However, the Fourth Amendment does not protect citizens when they consent to a search voluntarily. It is necessary to determine whether or not a search is voluntary by looking at a variety of factors. Although an infinite number of factors can be considered to make this determination, race of both the police officer and of the person being searched should be considered, due to societal …

The Right To Digital Privacy: Advancing The Jeffersonian Vision Of Adaptive Change, Kerry Moller

CMC Senior Theses

The relationship between privacy, technology, and law is complex. Thomas Jefferson’s prescient nineteenth century observation that laws and institutions must keep pace with the times offers a vision for change. Statutory law and court precedents help to define our right to privacy, however, the development of new technologies has complicated the application of old precedents and statutes. Third party organizations, such as Google, facilitate new methods of communication, and the government can often collect the information that third parties receive with a subpoena or court order, rather than a Fourth Amendment-mandated warrant. Privacy promotes fundamental democratic freedoms, however, under current …