Search & Seizure Under the Fourth Amendment
The Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution protects people against unreasonable searches and seizures by police officers. It reads:
The right of 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.
Article I, section 10, of the Minnesota Constitution is virtually identical to the Fourth Amendment in the United States Constitution. However, the Minnesota Supreme Court has afforded individuals even greater protection against unlawful search and seizure under our State Constitution as opposed to those available under the US Constitution.
The Fourth Amendment applies in limited situations. In general, the question of whether the Fourth Amendment applies turns on whether a person has a "reasonable expectation of privacy" in a particular situation. Whether a person has a reasonable expectation of privacy turns on both a subjective and objective analysis. First, the individual must have a subjective intent to keep something private. Second, and more importantly, the expectation must be one that society is willing to recognize as reasonable.
To analyze further whether the Fourth Amendment applies, the analysis must address the place searched, the person doing the search, the person being searched, and the reason for the search.
Central to the Fourth Amendment is its charge that police act reasonably when they engage in search or seizure activities. In general, for a search or seizure to be reasonable, it must be supported by a warrant issued by a neutral and detached magistrate or judge who has determined probable cause exists to support a particular search or seizure. As defined by the United States Supreme Court, “[p]robable cause exists where ‘the facts and circumstances within [the police officer’s] knowledge, and of which they had reasonable trustworthy information, [are] sufficient in themselves to warrant a man of reasonable caution in the belief that’ an offense has been or is being committed.”
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