Affirmative Action in Admission

Abigail Fisher a white student who was denied admission to

the University of Texas at Austin

She brought a lawsuit against the university for denying her admission based on race

Elena Kagan will remove herself from the case

Anthony Kennedy already spoke he may not be ready to forbid racial criteria in admissions

The 4th Amendment

4th Amendment

“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers 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 persons or things to be seized.”

What things are protected by the 4th Amendment?

Persons Clothes, wallet, shoes, bodily fluids or blood

Houses Apartment, porch, mobile home (if stationary)

Papers Diary or a book

Effects Backpack, iPod, collection of comics

4th Amendment

Unreasonable search and seizure

But what is Unreasonable?

Courts look to balance individual liberty with the need to keep an ordered society.

4th Amendment (2nd part)

“No Warrant shall issue but upon probable cause”

Warrant – A formal document signed by a judge that allows police to search or arrest you

4th Amendment

All of your effects PHONES, notebooks, keys, make up, purses,

your grades, etc.

Does the constitution protect these “effects” from unreasonable searches or seizures without a warrant based on probable cause?

Well that depends on what “reasonable expectation of privacy” is to you

4th Amendment

Do you actually expect privacy in your effects that you bring with you to school?

Is the expectation of privacy one that others agree is reasonable?

The Katz Case

The Court ruled that Katz had a reasonable expectation that his calls would not be heard by anyone except the intended listener

Charles Katz’s 4th Amendment rights WERE violated

The Katz Case

(a) an enclosed telephone booth is an area, where like a home, a person has a constitutionally protected reasonable expectation of privacy.

(b) that electronic as well as physical intrusion into a place that is in this sense private may constitute a violation of the 4th Amendment.

(c) the invasion of a constitutionally protected area by federal authorities is unreasonable in the absence of a search warrant.

4th Amendment

What do you think?

Why should they get a warrant when they know someone was breaking the law?

What about cell phones?

When or where do you expect your phone calls to be private?

Privacy in School

Schools are a place of learning

But it’s also a place where non-school problems and personalities will show up

So schools have been designed to protect students and teachers but also create a positive learning environment.

Privacy in School

Need for teachers and administrators to maintain order in schools outweighs the privacy interests of the students.

Privacy in Schools

As a result: No need for

probable cause and a search warrant

All they need is “suspicion”

New Jersey vs. T.L.O. ?

Exceptions to the Warrant Requirement

Search and Seizure

Probable Cause – apparent and reliable facts that create a reasonable belief that a crime has been or is being committed

Articulable Facts – must be distinguished before enacting a stop, and these facts must be expanded before a search and seizure is conducted

Warrantless searches can be conducted when they follow a lawful arrest or when probable cause has been gathered. The probable cause must be based on objective facts that could justify the issuance of a warrant from a magistrate, NOT just the good faith of the police officer

The Automobile Exception

Police don’t need a warrant to search vehicles

Because they move

Courts do not see automobiles as places quite like homes

The Terry Exception

Brief investigatory stops and searches

When police have good reason that a person has committed or is about to commit a crime

However… Limited to:

Pat down (weapons, drugs)

Identity Time for questioning

Following a Lawful Arrest

Police may make a full search: of all persons involved

with an arrest Areas around the

arrest All possessions that

suspects have at the time of the arrest

Police cannot use this as an excuse to find incriminating evidence

For Evidence

When there is probable cause for an arrest even if it has not been made

Police may conduct limited searches to preserve evidence

Scrapings under fingernails

Border Searches

People and their possessions may be searched when crossing a border into the United States.

Officials may also open mail entering the U.S. if they have probable cause to suspect illegal activities (drugs)

Plain-View Searches

Evidence in plain view of the officer may be seized without a warrant

Officer must be in a legal position to see an object that is evidence of a crime

Officer cannot, for example, force his/her way into an apartment and use any of that evidence

Exigent Circumstances

In urgent or critical situations there may be exceptions to the warrant requirement

Examples Evidence in a

burning house Criminal about to

escape capture Criminal could be in

danger of harming more people