Chapter 3 (Right to Privacy)

Question 1

Right to Privacy Rule of Law

Answer 1

The 4th Amendment protects individuals from unreasonable searches and seizures by the government. All individuals have a reasonable expectation of privacy, which is satisfied by a two prong test created by U.S. v. Katz: first, whether the person exhibited an actual expectation of privacy and secondly whether the subjective expectation of privacy is one that society is prepared to recognize as reasonable. This test was applied by the case Illinois v. Caballes.

Question 2

Right to Privacy Case Law

Answer 2

U.S. v. Katz - Charlie Katz went into a telephone booth in Los Angeles and took a call to conduct illegal betting. Government agents listened to him and recorded his conversation of illegal bets. The government’s intrusion upon his conversation was a violation of his 4th Amendment rights. The Court said that by entering the booth and closing the door, an individual seeks to exclude the uninvited ear, and not the intruding eye. Even though he could physically be seen, he kept an expectation of privacy to be heard.

Illinois v. Caballes - Defendant was pulled over for speeding and a trained narcotics dog smelled marijuana emitting from his car; there is no expectation of privacy in odor