finalcopymarylandvking
Maryland v. King: Putting the 4th Amendment to the Test
Josi Barth
CJA/364
February 10, 2015
Jeff Walters
Maryland v. King: Putting the 4th Amendment to the Test The 4th amendment protects us from unreasonable search and seizure. Once the police have a search warrant, the must be allowed to search the area or property on the warrant. An important bit of information for the American public to be aware of is what are the requirements for a search warrant as well as an arrest warrant and how they relate to privacy and probable cause. The public should also be aware that there are exceptions to warrant requirements that could make or break a case. A case to examine to better understand these is the case of Maryland v. King (Legal Information Institute (LII), 2010). In order to start to examine, one must first know what a search warrant is. A search warrant is an order that is signed by a judge that gives law enforcement authorization to search for particular objects or materials at a specified location and time (Search Warrants and Probable Causes, 2013). Police officers may obtain search warrants by providing a judge with the information that has been gathered in the form of written statements or under oath (Search Warrants and Probable Causes, 2013). In order to obtain a warrant, law enforcement must display probable cause. Although it seems that the 4th amendment does not clearly define probable cause, the information needed to establish probable cause is as follows: the officer should have a confidential informant whose reliability has been established, an informant who implicates his or herself, an informant whose information can be at least partially validated by law enforcement, or a witness to the crime. A police officer can produce a variety of information to obtain a warrant for search or arrest and it may or may not be limited to the previous list (Search Warrants and Probable Causes, 2013). A police officer must simply show that there
Josi Barth
CJA/364
February 10, 2015
Jeff Walters
Maryland v. King: Putting the 4th Amendment to the Test The 4th amendment protects us from unreasonable search and seizure. Once the police have a search warrant, the must be allowed to search the area or property on the warrant. An important bit of information for the American public to be aware of is what are the requirements for a search warrant as well as an arrest warrant and how they relate to privacy and probable cause. The public should also be aware that there are exceptions to warrant requirements that could make or break a case. A case to examine to better understand these is the case of Maryland v. King (Legal Information Institute (LII), 2010). In order to start to examine, one must first know what a search warrant is. A search warrant is an order that is signed by a judge that gives law enforcement authorization to search for particular objects or materials at a specified location and time (Search Warrants and Probable Causes, 2013). Police officers may obtain search warrants by providing a judge with the information that has been gathered in the form of written statements or under oath (Search Warrants and Probable Causes, 2013). In order to obtain a warrant, law enforcement must display probable cause. Although it seems that the 4th amendment does not clearly define probable cause, the information needed to establish probable cause is as follows: the officer should have a confidential informant whose reliability has been established, an informant who implicates his or herself, an informant whose information can be at least partially validated by law enforcement, or a witness to the crime. A police officer can produce a variety of information to obtain a warrant for search or arrest and it may or may not be limited to the previous list (Search Warrants and Probable Causes, 2013). A police officer must simply show that there
References: Legal Information Institute (LII). (2010). Maryland v. King. Retrieved from http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/cert/12-207 Search Warrants and Probable Causes. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/search-warrants-and-probable-cause.html National Paralegal Company (NPC). (2014). Exception to the Warrant Requirement. Retrieved from http://nationalparalegal.edu/conLawCrimProc_Public/ProtectionFromSearches&Seizures/ExToWarrantReq.asp