Amendment IV

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.

My Opinion: This is a very important Amendment that keeps our police in check. Without this nobody would have any sort of privacy or personal security whatsoever. For all the good people of America this is a great right to have but for all the criminals who are protected by this Amendment, lets just call them lucky. I guess the main point I want to get across with this Amendment is if I were put in the situation where I was searched for no reason, I would not be upset for the fact that I am glad they are trying to catch criminals, and if you have nothing to hide then what do you have to worry about. I would rather them search someone and find something then not search at all.

Screw the Fourth Amendment in Boston



My Opinion: This plan for safer streets in Boston does sound a little sketchy to me. Although a great idea for a country in desperate need of crime control, I do believe that this is walking the line with violating the Fourth Amendment. A good point was made that the neighborhoods that is in the most need of this is lower income neighborhoods. And that usually these people are already familiar with police abuse, so whose to say this wouldn't make it worse? If the cops raid a kids room and finds something else besides a gun, I guarantee they will find a way around the law and arrest him and take him to jail. I do think this is a good beginning to safer streets but needs a little adjustment to the rules.


Bond v. United States 529 U.S. 334 (2000)

Steven Dewayne Bond was indicted for conspiracy to possess, and possession with intent to distribute, methamphetamine in violation of a Federal statute. He had been traveling on a Greyhound bus bound for Little Rock, Arkansas from California. When the bus stopped at a Border Patrol checkpoint in Sierra Blanca, Texas, Agent Cesar Cantu boarded the bus to check on the immigration status of its passengers. Agent Cantu walked from the front of the bus to the back and after verifying the status of the passengers, he began moving back to the front of the bus. As he did, he squeezed the soft luggage passengers had placed in the overhead storage area of the bus.
When Agent Cantu reached Bond's green canvas bag, in squeezing the bag, he felt what he described as a "brick-like" object inside. Bond admitted the bag was his and consented to a search. Inside the bag was a "brick" of methamphetamine wrapped in duct tape and rolled inside a pair of pants.
Bond moved to suppress the seizure of the drugs, arguing that Agent Cantu's seach was illegal. The District Court denied the motion and found him guilty on both counts, sentencing him to 57 months in prison. The Court of Appeals affirmed the District Court's ruling, holding that "the fact that Agent Cantu’s manipulation of petitioner’s bag was calculated to detect contraband is irrelevant for Fourth Amendment purposes". Therefore, the seizure of the methamphetamine was not a search under the Fourth Amendment.
Chief Justice Rehnquist, in reversing the ruling of the Appeals Court, delivered the opinion of the Court, basing the decision on the analysis of two questions. (1) Did Bond, by his conduct, exhibit an actual expectation of privacy and (2) Was his expectation “one that society is prepared to recognize as reasonable"? Rehnquist held that the answer to both questions was yes. First, Bond used an opaque bag and placed it directly above him. Second, Bond's expectation that others would not touch his bag in an "exploratory manner", as Agent Cantu did, was a reasonable expectation under the Fourth Amendment.

My Opinion: This is one of those examples where the guy should of got caught but the circumstances where sticky. But with drugs becoming such a problem in America, cops are looking for any reason to bust that one suspicious person. Yeah this is unfortunate that he couldn't keep his meth and sell it to get more people addicted, but instead it was in a way illegally found. The court system will cover the cops story in order to put these addicts behind bars.