Critical Thinking: A Local Police Department Suspects That Three Individuals, Alvin, Simon

Multiple Choice

Critical Thinking:
A local police department suspects that three individuals, Alvin, Simon, and Theodore, are growing marijuana on their property and selling it around town. The officers, though, do not have probable cause to obtain a warrant. As a result, the officers begin discussing some creative avenues for acquiring information about these individuals and their activities. A rookie officer who majored in Political Science in college offers three options: 1) looking through trash left outside of the suspects' home; 2) flying over the suspects' backyard and using standard binoculars to search for marijuana plants; and 3) using a newly developed piece of equipment that can scan the suspects' house and detect the presence of large quantities of organic plants. Answer the following questions about these options.
-The act of placing a GPS locator on the rear bumper of the car and conducting surveillance on its movements is:

A) acceptable behavior without a warrant because the car is in "plain view"
B) a violation of the Fourth Amendment according to the decision in U.S. v. Jones
C) acceptable behavior without a warrant under the "exigent circumstance" doctrine
D) permitted under the 4th Amendment according to the decision in U.S. v. Jones