Ilegal Search

Read Chapter Question 1 (page 619) and then answer the following: Did this employee have a reasonable expectation of privacy in the contents of his work computer? Did the government violate his constitutional rights by conducting an illegal search?

The Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution provides, "the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized." In assuming the role of the court, we must determine whether or not the fourth amendment should have been enforced in regards to the place of employment.

First, we must further examine what constitute a search and seizure under the Fourth Amendment. A seizure of property, within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment, occurs when there is some meaningful interference with an individual’s possessory interests in the property (Cornell University, n.d.).  In some circumstances, warrantless seizures of objects in plain view do not constitute seizures within the meaning of Fourth Amendment.  When executing a search warrant, an officer might be able to seize an item observed in plain view even if it is not specified in the warrant.  With this particular case, the issue was to determine whether or not the privacy of Mr. Ziegler was violated. 

The company that employed Mr. Ziegler had written policies that fully described how the IT department would monitor Internet activity on the business computers along with regulating employee Internet access.   This understanding was relayed to every employee within the company at Front Line.  When the government seized Mr. Ziegler’s computer, he filled a motion to suppress the charges due to the government violating his privacy under the Fourth Amendment.  Under the Fourth Amendment, as...