Fourth Amendment Commons^™

The Post-Riley Search Warrant: Search Protocols And Particularity In Cell Phone Searches, Adam M. Gershowitz

Vanderbilt Law Review

Last year, in Riley v. California, the Supreme Court required police to procure a warrant before searching a cell phone. Unfortunately, the Court's assumption that requiring search warrants would be "simple" and very protective of privacy was overly optimistic. This article reviews lower court decisions in the year since Riley and finds that the search warrant requirement is far less protective than expected. Rather than restricting search warrants to the narrow evidence being sought, some magistrates have issued expansive warrants authorizing a search of the entire contents of the phone with no restrictions whatsoever. Other courts have authorized searches of …

Ou Professor: Fourth Amendment At Heart Of Dispute Between Fbi, Apple, Stephen Henderson

Other Faculty Publications

The dispute between the FBI and Apple Inc. over the unlocking of the iPhone used by one of the San Bernadino shooters is important to all Americans. And so it's good that it is getting a wide airing. But when it comes to issues that have complicated tradeoffs, it can be important not just that we have the conversation, but that we use the right words. And here the debate deserves very mixed reviews. . . .

County Court, Monroe County, People V. Reynolds, Jill Weinberg

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Terry And Beyond: Testing The Underlying Assumption Of Reasonable Suspicion, Illya D. Lichtenberg, Alisa Smith, Michael Copeland

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Anthony Amsterdam's Perspectives On The Fourth Amendment, And What It Teaches About The Good And Bad In Rodriguez V. United States, Tracey Maclin

UF Law Faculty Publications

Anthony Amsterdam’s article, Perspectives On The Fourth Amendment is one of the best, if not the best, law review article written on the Fourth Amendment. Thus, Minnesota Law Review on its hundredth anniversary fittingly recognizes and honors Professor Amsterdam’s article in its Symposium edition, “Standing on the Shoulders of Giants: Celebrating 100 Volumes of the Minnesota Law Review.” I am flattered that the Law Review invited me to participate in this Symposium. Specifically, my article connects two perspectives from Amsterdam’s article — the Fourth Amendment’s concern with discretionary police power and the Framers’ vision of the Fourth Amendment to bar …

Lawn Signs: A Fourth Amendment For Constitutional Curmudgeons, Andrew Ferguson, Stephen E. Henderson

Faculty Articles

What is the constitutional significance of the proverbial “keep off the grass” sign? This question—asked by curmudgeonly neighbors everywhere—has been given new currency in a recent decision by the United States Supreme Court. Indeed, Florida v. Jardines might have bestowed constitutional curmudgeons with significant new Fourth Amendment protections. By expressing expectations regarding—and control over—access to property, “the people” may be able to claim greater Fourth Amendment protections not only for their homes, but also for their persons, papers, and effects. This article launches a constitutionally grounded, but lighthearted campaign of citizen education and empowerment: Fourth Amendment LAWn signs. With every …

A Rose By Any Other Name: Regulating Law Enforcement Bulk Metadata Collection, Stephen E. Henderson

Faculty Articles

In Other People’s Papers, Jane Bambauer argues for careful reform of the Fourth Amendment’s third party doctrine, providing an important contribution to an increasingly rich field of scholarship, judicial opinion, statute, and law reform. Bambauer is especially concerned with access to bodies of third-party data that can be filtered and mined, as they can be privacy invasive but also effective and less subject to traditional investigative prejudices and limitations. Although her article provocatively overclaims in trying to set itself apart from existing proposals, by analyzing existing constitutional and statutory law—including what I have termed a “limited” third party doctrine—and comparing …

Fourth Amendment Time Machines (And What They Might Say About Police Body Cameras), Stephen E. Henderson

Faculty Articles

When it comes to criminal investigation, time travel is increasingly possible. Despite longstanding roots in traditional investigation, science is today providing something fundamentally different in the form of remarkably complete digital records. And those big data records not only store our past, but thanks to data mining they are in many circumstances eerily good at predicting our future. So, now that we stand on the threshold of investigatory time travel, how should the Fourth Amendment and legislation respond? How should we approach bulk government capture, such as by a solar-powered drone employing wide-area persistent stare technology? Is it meaningfully different …

Heien'S Mistake Of Law, Kit Kinports

Faculty Scholarship

The Supreme Court has been whittling away at the Fourth Amendment for decades. The Court's 2014 ruling in Heien v. North Carolina allowing the police to make a traffic stop based on a reasonable mistake of law generated little controversy among the Justices and escaped largely unnoticed by the press-perhaps because yet another Supreme Court decision reading the Fourth Amendment narrowly is not especially noteworthy or because the opinion's cursory and overly simplistic analysis equating law enforcement's reasonable mistakes of fact and law minimized the significance of the Court's decision. But the temptation to dismiss Heien as just another small …

Lawn Signs: A Fourth Amendment For Constitutional Curmudgeons, Andrew Ferguson

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

What is the constitutional significance of the proverbial "keep off the grass" sign? This question — asked by curmudgeonly neighbors everywhere — has been given new currency in a recent decision by the United States Supreme Court. Indeed, Florida v. Jardines might have bestowed constitutional curmudgeons with significant new Fourth Amendment protections. By expressing expectations regarding — and control over — access to property, "the people" may be able to claim greater Fourth Amendment protections not only for their homes, but also for their persons, papers, and effects. This article launches a constitutionally grounded, but lighthearted campaign of citizen education …

Gags As Guidance: Expanding Notice Of National Security Letter Investigations To Targets And The Public, Rebecca Wexler

Faculty Scholarship

National Security Letters (NSLs) are administrative subpoenas that the FBI uses to demand information from Internet service providers without prior judicial approval. They almost always include nondisclosure orders, commonly called “gags,” which prohibit the recipient from discussing the letter’s contents or even its mere existence. Courts and commentators have expressed concern that these gags may be overbroad prior restraints that violate the First Amendment and shroud government surveillance in undue secrecy. On November 30, 2015, an NSL gag order was lifted in full for the first time after a federal district judge found no “good reason” to retain it.

This …

Anthony Amsterdam's Perspectives On The Fourth Amendment, And What It Teaches About The Good And Bad In Rodriguez V. United States, Tracey Maclin

Faculty Scholarship

Anthony Amsterdam’s article, Perspectives On The Fourth Amendment is one of the best, if not the best, law review article written on the Fourth Amendment. Thus, Minnesota Law Review on its hundredth anniversary fittingly recognizes and honors Professor Amsterdam’s article in its Symposium edition, “Standing on the Shoulders of Giants: Celebrating 100 Volumes of the Minnesota Law Review.” I am flattered that the Law Review invited me to participate in this Symposium.
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/="/">Specifically, my article connects two perspectives from Amsterdam’s article — the Fourth Amendment’s concern with discretionary police power and the Framers’ vision of the Fourth Amendment …

Specifically Authorized By Binding Precedent Does Not Mean Suggested By Persuasive Precedent: Applying Good-Faith Exception After Davis V. United States, Zachary C. Bolitho

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Drones: Updating The Fourth Amendment And The Technological Trespass Doctrine, S. Alex Spelman

Nevada Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Book Review: Psychiatric Justice, Alice M. Batchelder

Akron Law Review

In an era in which extensive judicial emphasis has been placed on "due process of law" in criminal proceedings, both in the federal courts and in the state courts, Dr. Szasz's book serves as a jarring reminder that in at least one vital area of the concept of due process, much remains to be done. The emerging definition of due process has enunciated the rights guaranteed the individual by the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Fourteenth Amendments; and viewed within that framework, this book, although published in 1965, remains particularly timely, for Szasz, speaking as a psychiatrist, endeavors to demonstrate how …

Warrantless Search Of A College Dormitory, Ronald J. Bacigal

Akron Law Review

The first question the courts must consider is whether there are any limitations on when and how university officials may search a dormitory room. Since the fourth amendment has no application to searches and seizures conducted by private individuals, the courts have jurisdiction to review only state action infringing on the constitutional right to a reasonable expectation of privacy. In spite of indirect public financial support and state regulation of private universities, the courts have thus far held that the actions of private university officials are not to be considered as a form of state action. Thus this article is …

When Does Force Become Excessive?, Taryn Prusinski

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Pot In My Backyard: Curtilage Concept Endorsed By The Queens Supreme Court To Suppress Physical Evidence Of Marijuana, Laura J. Mulholland

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Need For Judicial Restriction On The Use Of Drug Detecting Canines, William R. Pomeroy

Akron Law Review

The purpose of this comment is to examine these issues, outline the conflicting positions, and attempt to forecast the direction the courts may take in their effort to bring some harmony to this unsettled (and to some, unsettling) area of law. Few people would attempt to deny law enforcement officials the use of this highly effective and relatively unintrusive law enforcement tool. Yet there are those who fear that the unsettled questions concerning limits on the use of this tool may lead to serious abuse, and who raise the specter of unlimited government intrusion should this type of investigatory activity …

The Fourth Amendment: In Search Of Illegal Aliens Immigration And Naturalization Service V. Delgado, Cristina A. Navarro

Akron Law Review

Throughout the nation's history, illegal immigration has generated considerable debate. Particularly important is the problem of illegal immigration from Mexico. The importance is due to the potential impact on Mexico/United States relations, and the sheer numbers involved. Many people believe that immigrants are primarily responsible for the United State's economic problems. As a result, much attention is being focused on the immigration issue. In order to combat illegal immigration the trend is to toughen up immigration policies and extend the authority of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). One way INS authority is exercised is through "area control operations" known …

Mill's Theory Of Liberty In Constitutional Interpretation, Wilson Ray Huhn

Akron Law Review

I wish to apply Justice Thompson's discussion of the nature of liberty in a more general context in addressing fundamental questions of constitutional interpretation. Justice Thompson's essential inquiry is, "Should the enforcement of morals be the concern of the law?" I take the liberty of slightly rephrasing that question: "Is the enforcement of traditional moral norms per se constitutional?" I suggest that the answer to this question is "no." Courts and scholars have often confused our moral traditions with our traditions of liberty and equality. My central premise is that it is for the legislature to enact morality into law, …

Chief Justice William Rehnquist: His Law-And-Order Legacy And Impact On Criminal Justice, Madhavi M. Mccall, Michael A. Mccall

Akron Law Review

In this article, we explore Chief Justice Rehnquist’s criminal justice decisions through an empirical analysis of the Court’s decision-making tendencies for the most recent natural court and a review of selected criminal justice decisions written by Justice Rehnquist throughout his career. To start, we limit the analysis, with only two exceptions, to decisions actually written by Justice Rehnquist. Although Chief Justice Rehnquist, in that position, had an important role in leading other justices to agree with him by assigning cases, we gleaned a substantial amount of information regarding his decisional patterns and policy preferences by analyzing the opinions he personally …

Factoring The Seriousness Of The Offense Into Fourth Amendment Equations: Strip Searches In Detention Facilities - Atwater Strikes Again, William A. Schroeder

Akron Law Review

This article suggests, inter alia, that Atwater can and should be limited, or better yet, overruled, by the adoption of reasonableness and probable cause standards that take into account the seriousness of the offense and make custodial arrests of minor offenders, and searches directed at minor offenders, much more difficult to justify than comparable activities directed at serious offenders.

Surveillance As Loss Of Obscurity, Woodrow Hartzog, Evan Selinger

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

State Labs Of Federalism And Law Enforcement "Drone" Use, Chris Jenks

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

Does It Stay, Or Does It Go?: Application Of The Good-Faith Exception When The Warrant Relied Upon Is Fruit Of The Poisonous Tree, Alyson M. Cox

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

I Spy: The New Self-Cybersurveillance And The "Internet Of Things", Steven I. Friedland

Washington and Lee Law Review

Prior to the digital age, surveillance generally meant a government agent or private investigator engaged in a stakeout or observation detail that involved physical work, expense, and time. The digital age changed surveillance fundamentally. Today, we not only generate mountains of data for others, we also effectively surveil ourselves through digitally-connected, multifunctional smart devices, collectively described as the “Internet of Things.”

Cybersurveillance accessed by the government, even when started as self-surveillance, raises complex and uncertain legal issues, especially when related to the Constitution. In United States v. Kyllo, the Supreme Court was reticent to allow government agents to use …

Better The Mob And The Ku-Klux: A History Of The Law Of Search And Seizure In Florida, Milton Hirsch

St. Thomas Law Review

As late as 1930, and on several occasions prior to that date, Harvard Law Professor Felix Frankfurter could offer, as an example of something that the Supreme Court would almost never be called upon to decide, "whether the [Fourth Amendment] protection against 'unreasonable searches and seizures' is violated. In 1939 Professor Frankfurter was appointed to the High Court, where he would serve for 23 years; and where, as Justice Frankfurter, he would participate in a great many notable opinions having to do with whether the Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable searches and seizures had been violated. That Professor Frankfurter made …

Regulating Drones Under The First And Fourth Amendments, Marc Blitz, James Grimsley, Stephen E. Henderson, Joseph Thai

Faculty Articles

The FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 requires the Federal Aviation Administration to integrate unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or drones, into the national airspace system by September of this year. Yet perhaps because of their chilling accuracy in targeted killings abroad, perhaps because of an increasing consciousness of diminishing privacy more generally, and perhaps simply because of a fear of the unknown, divergent UAV-restrictive legislation has been proposed in Congress and enacted in a number of states. Ultimately, given UAV utility and cost effectiveness over a vast range of tasks, widespread commercial use seems certain. So it is imperative …

Beyond The Fourth Amendment: Additional Constitutional Guarantees That Mass Surveillance Violates, Nadine Strossen

Articles & Chapters

The ongoing dragnet communications surveillance programs raise multiple statutory and constitutional problems. Each problem alone, and even more so the whole combination, provides a serious ground at least for vastly curbing such programs, if not ending them. This Article reviews constitutional challenges to these programs to evaluate the likely success of current and future litigants.