Deck 3: Probable Cause and Reasonable Suspicion

Question 1

In California v. Greenwood (1988), the Supreme Court held:

A) there is no reasonable expectation of privacy in the trash we place in the waste baskets located in our homes.
B) there is no reasonable expectation of privacy in the trash we place in bags/cans we place outside for pick-up on the front curb of our homes.
C) there is a reasonable expectation of privacy in the trash we place on the front curbs outside our homes because the trash is still on our property.
D) there is no reasonable expectation of privacy in trash unless we have shredded it.

Answer 1

B

Question 2

According to the plain view doctrine:

A) plain view is an exception to the search warrant requirement.
B) plain view is not a Fourth Amendment search.
C) plain view observations always fall outside of the Fourth Amendment restrictions.
D) once in plain view, an item may be searched to confirm that it is seizeable.

Answer 2

B

Question 3

According to the Supreme Court in Katz v. U.S., involving the use of an electronic listening device on the outside of a public telephone booth by the police:
I) the Fourth Amendment did not create a general constitutional right to privacy.
II) protection of a person's general right to privacy is left largely to the law of the individual states.
III) what a person knowingly exposes to the public is not subject to Fourth Amendment protection.
IV) what a person seeks to preserve as private, even in an area accessible to the public, may be constitutionally protected.

A) I, II, III, IV
B) I, III
C) II, III, IV
D) IV

Answer 3

A

Question 4

General warrants, or writs of assistance, as they were known in Britain and in the American colonies:

A) gave officers blanket authority to completely search a particular shop or home.
B) found favor in the American colonies because they were more restrictive than a
Warrantless search.
C) gave the person with the writ authority to enter any house for the entire life of the monarch.
D) were repealed in the American colonies by the Stamp Act.

Question 5

Police searches and seizures serve several purposes; these purposes include:
I) gathering information in order to control crime.
II) harassing potential criminals in order to prevent crime.
III) protecting police officers while they apprehend suspects.
IV) protecting the property of detained suspects.

A) I
B) I, III, IV
C) I, II, III, IV
D) I, II

Question 6

Under the trespass doctrine, a search:
I) requires a physical intrusion into a constitutionally protected place.
II) protects only places named in the Fourth Amendment.
III) does not itself include the observation of a suspect's physical circumstances.
IV) must violate a reasonable expectation of privacy.

A) I, II, III, IV
B) I, II, III
C) I, IV
D) II

Question 7

In U.S. v. White, involving incriminating statements heard by law enforcement because of warrantless electronic eavesdropping of defendant White's co-conspirator, the Supreme Court held that:
I) White had no reasonable expectation of privacy in his conversation with the co-conspirator.
II) live participant monitoring was reasonable under the Fourth Amendment, but
Electronic eavesdropping was not.
III) three-party bugging jeopardizes our sense of security and therefore was unreasonable.
IV) the use of government informants in the respondent's home violated the Fourth Amendment.

A) I, II
B) I
C) I, II, III, IV
D) III, IV

Question 8

According to the Supreme Court opinion in U.S. v. White (1971), involving a friend wired for sound to the police:

A) a defendant has a constitutionally protected expectation that a person he is conversing with will not reveal the conversation to the police.
B) a person contemplating illegal activities must realize and risk that his friend may be reporting to the police.
C) a suspect's friend may relate the substance of conversations between the two without violating the Fourth Amendment, but the amendment is violated if the friend records those conversations for the police without a warrant.
D) anytime electronic devices are used to obtain evidence, a search warrant is required.

Question 9

According to the Supreme Court in Katz v. U.S., involving an electronic listening and recording device attached to the outside of a public telephone booth:

A) the Fourth Amendment protects people, not places.
B) a subjective expectation of privacy confers the Fourth Amendment's protection.
C) there is no search unless there has been a physical intrusion into a place.
D) eavesdropping on a public phone booth is not a search.

Question 10

If it's determined that the police have not engaged in a search or seizure:

A) the Fourth Amendment applies only in part to the officer's actions.
B) the due process clause has been violated.
C) the police actions are not subject to the Fourth Amendment's requirements.
D) according to the exclusionary rule, the search or seizure is inadmissible.

Question 11

General warrants were used in England to:
I) discover evidence of seditious libels.
II) protect the government against foreign invasion.
III) enforce the tax laws on certain articles.
IV) enforce the laws granting the king certain royal prerogatives.

A) I, II, III, IV
B) I, III
C) I, III, IV
D) I

Question 12

In Illinois v. Caballes, the Supreme Court ruled that:

A) Drivers of automobiles have a reasonable expectation of privacy that protects them from the use of drug-sniffing dogs without a warrant.
B) Drug-sniffing dogs can only be used if there is reasonable suspicion the driver has narcotics.
C) Drug-sniffing dog searches are prone to many errors and are so intimidating that officials must have probable cause to use them.
D) The use of well-trained drug-sniffing dogs to expose contraband items that would remain hidden in a routine traffic stop, does not intrude on a driver's reasonable expectation of privacy and the Fourth Amendment does not apply.

Question 13

The Fourth Amendment protects values essential to the quality of life in a free society. Among these values are:
I) privacy.
II) crime control.
III) liberty.
IV) commerce.

A) II, III
B) I, III
C) I, III, IV
D) I, II, III, IV

Question 14

Which of the following questions is/are part of the three step analysis used to determine whether the government has complied with the Fourth Amendment?
I) Did the government action emphasize results over process?
II) Was there a physical intrusion into a protected place?
III) Was the government action a "search" or "seizure"?
IV) If the action was a search, was it an "unreasonable" search?

A) I, III, IV
B) I, II
C) I, II, III, IV
D) III, IV

Question 15

Law enforcement has to rely on involuntary methods to get information. Those methods include:
I) searches and seizures.
II) interrogation.
III) identification procedures.
IV) confessions.

A) I, II, III
B) IV.
C) I, I, IV
D) II, III

Question 16

The Supreme Court has held that citizens have no reasonable expectation of privacy in which of the following?

A) telephone conversations.
B) bank records.
C) private papers.
D) letters given to the post office.

Question 17

What is needed to establish that government action is a search?
I) societal recognition that a personal expectation of privacy is reasonable
II) actual physical trespass into an area
III) mere governmental intent to conduct a search
IV) the exhibition of a personal subjective expectation of privacy

A) II, III
B) I, IV
C) II, IV
D) All the above

Question 18

Justice Black, in his dissenting opinion in Katz v. U.S., claimed that:
I) the Fourth Amendment's words did not support the majority.
II) the Court was expanding the meaning of the Fourth Amendment to keep up with the times.
III) the Fourth Amendment created a general right of privacy.
IV) the Fourth Amendment was meant to protect against eavesdropping.

A) I, II
B) III, IV
C) IV
D) II, III

Question 19

According to the Supreme Court in Smith v. Maryland (1979), a person does not have a reasonable expectation of privacy in:

A) his or her personal diary.
B) telephone conversations.
C) the telephone numbers that they dial.
D) the briefcase they carry in a public place.

Question 20

An officer who smells marijuana as he drives by a car with an open window:

A) cannot compel the driver to stop the car so he can investigate without a warrant.
B) is limited to noting the license plate number of the vehicle and initiating a stake-out of the owner's home in order to gather additional evidence.
C) is authorized to stop the car to investigate without a warrant or probable cause because it is a plain search and outside the scope of the Fourth Amendment.
D) is authorized to stop and investigate because he has probable cause under the Fourth Amendment.

Question 21

The special protection accorded by the Fourth Amendment to persons, places, papers, and effects does not include protection for:

A) telephone calls.
B) curtilage.
C) offices.
D) open fields.

Question 22

The US. Supreme Court has held that citizens have a reasonable expectation of privacy in the telephone numbers they call.

Question 23

In California v. Hodari D. (1991), the Supreme Court ruled:

A) a seizure cannot occur if the suspect does not yield.
B) a show of authority stop by police is sufficient to establish a seizure occurred.
C) a show of authority is sufficient to establish that a suspect is not free to leave.
D) a warning shot is required to establish a seizure occurred and the suspect continues to flee.

Question 24

In practice, searches and seizures sometimes serve to protect police officers.

Question 25

According to the plurality opinion of the Supreme Court in U.S. v. Mendenhall involving an airport investigation of possible drug law violations:

A) voluntary co-operation is determined by whether the agents actually tell citizens they are free to leave.
B) seizure is determined by whether reasonable persons, under the circumstances, would feel or honestly believe they are not free to go.
C) a person is seized whenever they are moved from the place where the encounter with the police occurs.
D) a person is not seized unless the officer tells the person he or she has been arrested.

Question 26

According to U.S. Supreme Court Justice White's plurality opinion in Florida v. Royer, seizure by police occurs when:

A) police officers approach an individual on the street and asks her to answer some
Questions.
B) the officer identifies himself as a police officer and asks the citizen to answer some questions.
C) a reasonable person would not feel free to leave.
D) when an officer in plainclothes approaches a citizen and asks questions about a crime without identifying himself as an officer.

Question 27

The Fourth Amendment only protects against invasions that amount to unreasonable searches and seizures.

Question 28

Police used a thermal imager to scan Kyllo's home because they had information that he was growing marijuana in his home. Officers did not have a warrant and claimed the search was in plain view. The Supreme Court ruled that:

A) use of a thermal imager did not alter the fact that the officers observed the marijuana in plain view.
B) use of a thermal imager to explore details of a home that in the past would have been unknown without a physical intrusion into the home is a search and subject to Fourth Amendment requirements.
C) thermal imagers are common devices and, therefore, the search was in plain view.
D) the use of a thermal imager is always illegal.

Question 29

In California v. Ciraolo (1986), a case involving the police using a plane to fly 1000 feet over Ciraolo's yard to see if he was growing marijuana, the Supreme Court ruled:

A) the plane enhanced the police officer's natural vision and, therefore, the Fourth Amendment was implicated and the officers should be held to the probable cause and warrant requirements.
B) the plane enhanced the officer's vision but they had probable cause based on other evidence.
C) the plane didn't enhance the officer's vision, therefore it was a plain view search outside the purvey of the Fourth Amendment.
D) the Fourth Amendment restricts officers from using airplanes to search for drugs.

Question 30

Which of the following places is/are not likely to be considered part of the curtilage?
I) garages
II) pools
III) warehouses on the same property
IV) porches

A) I, II, IV
B) II, IV
C) III
D) I

Question 31

The point at which an actual seizure occurs is when police:

A) physically grab a person with the intent to keep them from leaving.
B) display their authority by ordering a suspect to stop.
C) draw their weapons and announce that the person is under arrest.
D) stop an individual and hand-cuff them.

Question 32

Which of the following is not an example of abandoned property?

A) A man throws away an empty soda can after finishing the drink inside it.
B) A woman closes her purse but in doing so unknowingly drops her wallet out of it.
C) A person being chased by the police throws away a gun.
D) A person places notes for a letter in a basket to be sent to the paper shredder.

Question 33

The Fourth Amendment does not protect what the senses perceive in public places. Public places do not include:

A) public parks.
B) private businesses open to the public.
C) streets.
D) employees-only areas of private businesses.

Question 34

Which of the following criteria are used by the Supreme Court to determine whether an area falls within the curtilage of a house?
I) presence of no trespassing signs
II) distance from house
III) use or purposes of the area
IV) measures taken to prevent public view

A) II, III, IV
B) I, II, IV
C) I, II, III, IV
D) II, IV

Question 35

An officer who uses a flash light to look inside the front seat of a locked, illegally parked automobile on a public street and notices a bag of marijuana on a front seat:

A) has conducted an illegal search because he enhanced his normal senses with a flashlight.
B) has conducted an illegal search because he looked into the windows of a locked car.
C) has not conducted a search at all and his actions are not in violation of the Fourth Amendment because the marijuana was in plain view.
D) has conducted a legal search because under the Fourth Amendment he can use a flashlight.

Question 36

The Supreme Court has adopted a ____________________ test to determine the whether throwing away an item of property proves the intent to give up a reasonable expectation of privacy.

A) totality of the circumstances
B) per se
C) abandoned beyond a reasonable doubt
D) abandoned by clear evidence

Question 37

The discovery of evidence by means of a law enforcement officer's ordinary senses in any place where the officer has a lawful right to be is not a search.

Question 38

In order to establish that property has been abandoned, it must be shown that:
I) the owner physically gave up possession of the property.
II) the owner announced he or she was abandoning the property.
III) the owner intended to give up any expectation of privacy in the property.
IV) the property had been altered in such a way that it could not be used for its
Intended purpose.

A) I, II, III
B) I, II
C) I, IV
D) I, III

Question 39

According to the Supreme Court, a police officer is permitted to use drug sniffing dogs during a routine stop for a traffic violation:

A) because the driver of the car does not have a reasonable expectation of privacy while lawfully stopped.
B) only if the officer can establish probable cause that the drive has contraband in the car.
C) only if the officer has probable cause and a search warrant.
D) only if the driver has consented to the search.

Question 40

According to the privacy doctrine, the Fourth Amendment protects places, not persons.

Question 41

The Fourth Amendment protects abandoned property.

Question 42

The rule that detection by means of the ordinary senses is not a Fourth Amendment search is known as the .

Question 43

The value sometimes called the right to be let alone from government invasions is __ _.

Question 44

The Fourth Amendment does not afford protection against what can be perceived by the senses in a public place.

Question 45

For Fourth Amendment purposes, privately owned land not in included within the area immediately surrounding the home is called .

Question 46

According to the Supreme Court opinion in California v. Greenwood involving incriminating evidence found in defendant's trash, citizens have a reasonable expectation of privacy in their trash.

Question 47

The right of citizens to come and go as they please is called ________________.

Question 48

The Fourth Amendment protects against unreasonable searches and seizures by _______.

Question 49

The statement that the Fourth Amendment protects persons, not places, when those persons have a reasonable expectation of privacy describes the ____________ doctrine.

Question 50

The plain view doctrine does not allow the use of ordinary technological enhancements that are widely available, i.e. flashlights or magnifying glasses.

Question 51

A Fourth Amendment seizure occurs when the suspect feels a moral duty to cooperate with police.

Question 52

When a police officer grabs a citizen with the intent to stop that person, that is called a(n) ___________.

Question 53

Justice Black, dissenting in Katz v. United States, argued that the Fourth Amendment was meant to only extend protection to tangible things and places.

Question 54

According to the Supreme Court in California v. Hodari D, involving a young man who threw away a rock of crack cocaine just before an officer physically apprehended him, a seizure occurs when an officer approaches someone with an intent to seize the person.

Question 55

The open fields doctrine protects land from intrusion where owners have put up "no trespassing" signs.

Question 56

The US Supreme Court has held that a citizen can have a reasonable expectation of privacy in telephone conversations.

Question 57

The concept that a search requires a physical invasion into a constitutionally protected area is called the ____________________.

Question 58

Looking through abandoned property is not a Fourth Amendment search. For property to be considered abandoned, there must be ________________ and ___________________.

Question 59

The police have heard vague rumors of unknown reliability that Smith is growing marijuana in a field on his farm. The field is not visible from Smith's house or from any public road. To reach the field, the police climb over a fence with "No Trespassing" signs on it. They find marijuana growing in a field on Smith's farm. They had no search warrant. This search is constitutional under the open fields doctrine.

Question 60

According to the open fields doctrine, the protected and immediately surrounding area around a house is known as .

Question 61

Identify the two conditions that each turn an encounter with the police into a Fourth Amendment seizure.

Question 62

Why is there no reasonable expectation of privacy in open fields? Why does the open fields doctrine apply even when owners post a "No Trespassing" sign?

Question 63

Compare the trespass doctrine with the privacy doctrine in defining Fourth Amendment searches.

Question 64

Identify and give an example of each of the two elements that determines whether

Question 65

Why can plain-view searches be called nonsearches? Identify and describe the situations when the three conditions of the plain-view doctrine apply.