The Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution was adopted in 1792. It guarantees people’s right to the inviolability of their identity, home, documents, and property in case of unjustified search or arrests. The right must not be violated, and no orders must be signed if there is not enough justification for the statement. It may be confirmed either by jury or the allegation with the detailed description of the crime scene of the people who committed it (FindLaw, 2019). However, not every search that is conducted by the police officers requires the application of the Fourth Amendment. It concerns only those searches that are initiated by the government or its directives.
The Fourth Amendment makes police officers act reasonably and respectfully when they start search activities in a particular location. It is stated that police officers have no right to search people’s property, especially houses, without a warrant signed by a judge or neutral magistrate. However, there is one significant outcome of the Amendment that concerns the fact that it may be applied only to the seizures and search activities initiated by law enforcement institutions (FindLaw, 2019). In other words, the Fourth Amendment does not protect American citizens from the actions of private detectives or extremely curious neighbors. Hence, the Amendment may be applied only concerning the actions of a legal institution.
Apart from that, the Amendment still protects people’s confidentiality even if search activities have been conducted. People may hope to ensure their privacy, when it comes to the matters they keep for themselves, including clothes and personal belongings. When the matter concerns the house, people are interested in keeping secret what happens inside the house and are not considered a matter for public discussions, while things occurring outside bother them less (FindLaw, 2019). Hence, US law considers people’s privacy if the matter does not concern anything that a person knowingly demonstrates to the public.
The previous statement claims that the matters that people intentionally expose to the public are unlikely to stay secret during a seizure or search activity. The right to confidentiality does not concern things and personal issues that are not guided by people themselves as private. Thus, they are not protected by the Fourth Amendment in case of the search (FindLaw, 2019). That is why social media pages or phone numbers that are published on the Internet or other materials that everybody has access to are not considered private and are not protected by the Fourth Amendment.
However, if a person faces unjustified search activity or even arrest, they may challenge the law enforcement’s actions. They may also require the elimination of all the evidence that was got due to the action that violated the country’s law (FindLaw, 2019). Apart from that, a person whose rights guaranteed by the Fourth Amendment were violated may sue the institution or those who did not observe his rules.
Taking into account all mentioned above, it is possible to conclude that the Fourth Amendment may be considered an ambiguous law. On the one hand, it guarantees and guides people’s privacy and confidentiality, but, on the other hand, it may be implemented only to the actions conducted by the government. In addition, the Amendment does not protect people’s property or information that was not held private before the investigation. In many cases, the actions of the law enforcement officers seem reasonable, a lot of people still face legal prosecution by mistake, so their reputation and property may be damaged due to the actions of the police officers.
Reference
FindLaw’s Team (2019). When the Fourth Amendment Applies. FindLaw, Web.