Search Result: Fourth Amendment

Two cases from Florida have brought the U.S. Supreme Court to two different conclusions regarding K-9 searches in 2013. One is an affirmation of existing practice, but the other breaks new ground and imposes new limits.

A woman who considers herself a "citizen journalist" said she plans to sue, after a Gresham (Ore.) Police officer seized video she captured during an arrest. Read the full story here.

Warrantless searches are presumed to be unreasonable, but the U.S. Supreme Court has acknowledged that a warrantless search may still be reasonable under the Fourth Amendment if it falls within the guidelines of one or more of a limited number of exceptions.

Warning: The video features explicit content. Two University of Kentucky, Lexington campus police officers are under fire for forcing their way into the dorm room of a student, who videotaped the encounter and posted it on YouTube. Read the full story here.

As previous "Point of Law" articles have discussed, there are four—and only four—legal justifications for entering private premises. For several reasons, the preferred authority for entry is a judicial warrant.

When the government, in an attempt to get information, "trespasses" on any of the items specifically listed in the Fourth Amendment ("persons, houses, papers and effects"), this constitutes a "search," whether or not there is any infringement of a suspect's legitimate expectation of privacy.