Written Discussion

Begin this discussion by imagining your friend is being charged with a crime. The police have evidence against her which they found in several different ways. For each example, decide whether you believe the government should be able to use that evidence if they didn’t have a warrant when they seized it.  Complete the chart below.

ITEM/LOCATION SEARCHED WITHOUT A WARRANT SHOULD POLICE BE ABLE TO USE THIS EVIDENCE AGAINST HER? (Yes or No)WHY OR WHY NOT? (One-sentence explanation)Evidence from her public school locker  Websites that she visited on her home computer.  An email that she sent to a friend.  Information from her Facebook page, including status updates and pictures with locations and other people tagged.  Her movements by car on public streets.  The contents of her cell phone.  Things she said on a land-line phone conversation she had at home.  Trash from her home that her family had placed in a garbage can by the curb.  Something in her fenced backyard, not visible from the street.  

After you complete the chart answer the following:

Questions

1.  How does the Fourth Amendment’s warrant requirement protect you?

2.  Due process is included in the Constitution to achieve a certain goal. What does due process achieve?

3.  What is the exclusionary rule and does this rule help to ensure liberty and justice?  Why or why not?