Fourth Amendment Viewing Guide

Answer key for the Fourth Amendment viewing guide.

The steady march of science and technology has a way of bringing settled law into new areas, challenging what was once convention. An upcoming court case involves just such a predicament – whether or not the government can search your laptop or cell phone without a warrant at border crossings.

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and…parking? Parking tickets are a common legal violation that many Americans have to contend with more than they’d wish. Thanks to a recent decision, it may soon become more difficult for the police to prosecute parking violations.

Do new full-body scanners and TSA “enhanced pat-down” airport procedures violate the Fourth Amendment or other constitutional protections? This eLesson dives into the details of the new TSA security measures.

Can the police use illegally seized evidence in a court of law? The landmark Supreme Court case Mapp v. Ohio addressed this issue, and the decision has had a lasting impact in the United States.

Join BRI staff Kirk Higgins and Joshua Schmid as they break down excerpts from Mapp v. Ohio, a landmark Supreme Court case that ruled that illegally obtained evidence cannot be used in a state court. They'll explore how the majority and dissenting opinions conveyed very different interpretations of how the 4th and 14th Amendments were meant to work together, and what role the exclusionary rule has in state law. Did this ruling promote or prevent fairness in our justice system?

Case background and primary source documents concerning the Supreme Court case of Mapp v. Ohio. Dealing with incorporation of the Fourth Amendment and the legality of searches and seizures, this lesson asks students to assess the claim that the exclusionary rule helps ensure liberty and justice.