Cyberlaw Book Resources - Chapter 11

Chapter 11 resources for the Cyberlaw book

By John Bandler

This page has resources specific for this chapter.

Looking to navigate to another place?

Chapter 11 resources, https://johnbandler.com/cyberlawbook-resources-ch11/ (this page)
Chapter 21 on gathering evidence in cyberspace
Fourth Amendment and cases things to know, https://johnbandler.com/things-to-know-fourth-amendment-cases/
U.S. Constitution, Fourth Amendment (via Cornell LII), https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/fourth_amendment
Coming someday, article titled simply Fourth Amendment

The Fourth Amendment protects against unreasonable searches and seizures by the government
It does not protect against private searches and seizures (though other laws may)
From the 4th Amendment an enormous body of caselaw has developed and evolved
Important Fourth Amendment principles include:
- The search warrant "requirement”
- Exceptions to the search warrant requirement
- Exclusionary rule (evidence seized unlawfully will be excluded from trial, or suppressed)
- Analyzing whether there a reasonable expectation of privacy from government (which is different from civil privacy considerations)
The text of the Fourth Amendment has never changed since 1791, but the law of it has changed markedly.
The Fourth Amendment was initially toothless, and with no consequence when government violated it.
In 1914 the U.S. Supreme Court interpreted the Fourth Amendment to create a consequence when law enforcement violated it, the exclusionary rule (Weeks v. United States).
The exclusionary rule was applied to state and local law enforcement in 1961 with the decision of Mapp v. Ohio.

What is the highest law in the U.S. regarding government searches and seizures?
What does the Fourth Amendment protect against?
If a judge decides police obtained evidence unlawfully, what might the judge do?
If the Fourth Amendment imposes a search warrant requirement, list some exceptions to that requirement
True/False: The Fourth Amendment was ratified in 1791, thus is couldn't possibly be applied to cyber and digital evidence.
Read the 54 words of the Fourth Amendment and what do you think of when you read them? Is this your first time?
- The right of the 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.

See this scene from Breaking Bad, Season 3, Episode 6, where methamphetamine manufacturers Jesse and Walt are trapped in the recreation vehicle (RV), and DEA Agent Hank is trying to get in. It's a masterful scene with a decent discussion of the automobile exception to the search warrant requirement. Available at YouTube here.

Originally posted 10/31/2024. Updated 10/31/2024.