The Concept of Privacy under the Fourth Amendment Essay

The Concept of Privacy under the Fourth Amendment - Essay Example The right to privacy is stipulated in the 4th amendment of United States Constitution (Hess & Orthmann, 2008). The court argued that making a telephone call is a personal affair; therefore, the FBI and Police Department illegally recorded Katz’s phone call. This is because the 4th amendment barres any state agency to engage in unlawful seizures and searches of American Citizens (Hess & Orthmann, 2008). The 4th amendment of the U.S. Constitution defines what is needed to trespass into any American’s right to privacy. It also defines what privacy right means. This amendment is what made the U.S. Supreme Court rule in favour of Katz. This test asks two questions; first, whether a person has a subjective, or actual expectation of privacy. This is evaluated in the context of individual behaviour, case by case, and is focused on the subjective or actual belief of the victim, who is the subject of the search (Hess & Orthmann, 2008). Second, whether or not there is an objective expectation of society. This tests whether there is a substantial expectation of privacy. The majority of the court rejected trespass doctrine, holding that the 4th amendment does not protect things that an individual exposes to the public, but what an individual expects to keep private, in all places, including public areas (Hess & Orthmann,