Right to privacy Essay Example for Free

Right to secrecy EssayOne of the hallmarks of every free and democratic society is the enjoyment by the people of their the right way to privacy. An example of the right to privacy is that which is protected and guaranteed down the stairs the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Thus, searches and seizures to be valid must comply with the requirement of modestness. In case this requirement is not complied with then all usher obtained in violation of the Fourth Amendment shall be declargond inadmissible in any court of law pursuant to the Exclusionary Rule. One concrete example of the right against un presumable search is when a patrol officer squeezes the luggage of a unavowed instructor passenger in search for drugs. In the case of Bond v. United States, 529 US 334, Bond was a bus passenger when a border guard agent boarded his bus to check on the immigration status of the passengers. While checking the immigration status of the passengers, the patrol ag ent it squeezed Bonds bag and felt up an object inside it. When asked, Bond allowed the agent to open it. The agent discovered methamphetamine inside his bag.In this case, the court ruled that the two part-test established under Katz v. United States to make a search valid for purposes of the Fourth Amendment not complied with a) governmental action must contravene an individuals actual and subjective mentality of privacy (2) and that expectation of privacy must be reasonable in the sense that society in normal would recognize it as such. First, Bond had a reasonable expectation of privacy over his personal belongings and this is manifested by the fact that he brought with him an opaque bag that was placed over his seat.Secondly, the society in general recognizes that such expectation of privacy is reasonable. Although there is the expectation that the said luggage will be handled by other passengers of bus employees, there is no expectation that the luggage will be physically ma nipulated in an exploratory manner as what the patrol agent conducted in this case. The ruling in this case is specially important for the protection of the people who are in public vehicles.It bears stressing that the privacy of a person is not limited barely to his house, his office, his garage but this right extends even to his personal belongings. Mail Searches The homogeneous protection of the right to privacy extends to first-class letters and sealed packages. The rule is that in the absence of any probable cause that will lead police and postal regime to conclude that there may be illegal contraband inside letters or packages they do not have any authority to inspect and open them for the purpose of searching for any illegal item.The case of United States v. Van Leeuwen is instructive. evening if there is probable cause to believe that there is an illegal contraband inside the letters or packages the same still does not authorize police and postal authorities to open th em. Their authority is limited to the right to detain them for a reasonable time sufficient to obtain the required search warrant. It is only when the search warrant is obtained that they may open these letters and packages. The idea behind this principle is simple.The right to privacy and the right against unreasonable search and seizure are so important that suspicions for an illegal contraband inside the letters and packages do not suffice. There is also no justification for police and postal authorities to immediately open these letters and packages since the letters and packages are within their full control which gives them sufficient time to wait until search warrant is secured. Searches and Seizures by cliquish PersonsOne limitation of the provisions under the Fourth Amendment is that it extends only to privacy intrusions committed by government agencies and officers. Searches and seizures made by cloistered individuals even if they snap off the Fourth Amendment are not p rotected by the Fourth Amendment. The reason is simple. At the time the Fourth Amendment was included in the US Constitution that same was intended to guard against the potential abuses that government authorities may commit against private individuals.Historically speaking, the Fourth Amendment was originally designed as a reaction to the controversial writs of assistance that was prevalent before the American Revolution. (Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution) It seeks to limit the power of government authorities and to protect the privacy rights of the people. Thus, considering that private individuals are on equal footing the framers thought that there was no reason to expand the scope of the Fourth Amendment and include therein private individuals.Thus, evidence obtained by private individuals in the course of an unlawful search provided they acted purely on their own and the police did not encourage nor participate in the private search and seizure is admissible. In the first example, if the discovery of methamphetamine was made by an employee of the bus company tasked to conduct routine inspections and searches, then the same does not constitute unreasonable search and the evidence obtained is admissible in court.