Also known as: unreasonable searches · unreasonable searches and seizures
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A government intrusion into an area where a person holds a reasonable expectation of privacy that proceeds without a warrant supported by probable cause or a recognized exception to the warrant requirement.
Investigators served a broad administrative demand on NimbusBox and remotely copied all user files including those of Malik. They entered the private cloud data without obtaining a warrant or showing probable cause. The intrusion into files Malik kept locked away from public view constituted an unreasonable search.
Campus security officers used a master key to enter Jordan's locked single-occupancy dorm room at night. They opened his desk drawers and examined personal papers without consent or judicial authorization. The warrantless search of the private living space and closed containers violated Jordan's protected interest.
Code enforcement officers entered Jordan's fenced backyard and used force to open a locked shed. They photographed the interior contents and the house windows without a warrant or any exception. The physical entry into curtilage areas where Jordan maintained privacy expectations amounted to an unreasonable search.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
EPA agents borrowed a badge from an editor and entered Leslie's shared office. They forced open her locked filing cabinet and laptop bag to seize documents without probable cause or a warrant. The physical intrusion into containers Leslie had secured against outside access created an unreasonable search.
Agricultural officers cut the padlock on Randy's shed inside a fenced barnyard and seized invoices without judicial process. Randy had taken affirmative steps to secure the records from public view. The warrantless opening of the locked container during the compliance sweep constituted an unreasonable search.
Highland provided IRS agents real-time access to Marie's GPS location data collected through the driver app. Agents tracked her movements outside delivery hours without any warrant or subpoena. The prolonged surveillance of private travel patterns that Marie reasonably expected to remain confidential amounted to an unreasonable search.
Yes. A user retains a reasonable expectation of privacy in the content of private cloud files that are not held out to the public. Government agents who remotely access and copy those files without a warrant conduct a search. An administrative demand does not substitute for a warrant when private content is at issue.
Yes. A dorm room functions like a private apartment for privacy purposes when the student keeps the door locked. Campus security officers employed by the state who enter without consent or a warrant perform a search. Contractual housing rules alone do not eliminate the expectation of privacy in the room or closed containers inside it.
Yes. The backyard and a locked shed adjacent to a home fall within the curtilage that receives the same protection as the dwelling itself. Officers who enter those areas and open locked containers without a warrant conduct a search. Code-enforcement goals do not create an automatic exception to the warrant requirement.
…terms of the taking of property; the freedom of speech, press, and religion; the right to keep and bear arms; the freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures; and so on. It is a rational continuum which, broadly speaking, includes a freedom from all substantial arbitrary impositions and purposeless restraints . . . and which also recognizes,…