Textbook: Title: Criminal Law and Procedure (8th Edition)
Author: John M. Scheb and John M. Scheb II
•Publisher: Cengage Learning
Directions: Answer the two questions below adhering to the guidelines that follows. Students will keep abreast of current issues in criminology and
crime generally that appear in newscasts and newspaper reports. Students are highly encouraged
to reference news articles for support in online discussions. Use scholarly articles, books, etc.
The 4th Amendment addresses UNREASONABLE SEARCHES to Persons, Houses, Papers and Effects. The threshold question one must answer before the 4th Amendment is triggered is whether there was a government action that led to a search of a person, house, paper or effect. Determining what is a search requires asking whether a Constitutionally protected area was physically intruded and determining whether the person “searched” had a reasonable expectation of privacy in the person, home, or thing searched.
Although law enforcement can walk around your open property, whcih is not a house, your “curtilage” is protected. Curtilage is that space immediately adjacent to your home where intimate activities may take place – like your porch or your green house. Even those spaces may be viewed by the public, for instance from the air, a neighbor’s home, or right of way. The Supreme Court determined that what you knowingly expose to the public is not entitled to 4th Amendment protection.
Answer the two following questions listed below.
1. QUESTION One : Can the government without a warrant ask your cellphone provider to provide historical cell-site records for your personal cellphone that give the police your GPS whereabouts for the last 60 days?
2. QUESTION Two: Can the government without a warrant go to your bank and get your private bank records?
