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Criminal Procedure • Exclusionary Rule
CRIMPRO#008
Legal Definition
Individuals do not have standing in (1) anything they hold out to the public; (2) their voice; (3) their handwriting; (4) the paint on the outside of their car; (5) account records held by a bank; (6) the location of their car on a public street or in their driveway; (7) open fields; (8) public airspace; (9) odors from luggage or car; or (10) garbage on the curb.
Plain English Explanation
As you may remember from other cards, when it comes to 4th Amendment ("4A") issues, a person has "standing" when they have a reasonable expectation of privacy in the thing or place being searched. Generally, you'll need to do a Katz analysis to figure out whether such an expectation of privacy exists. However, a person has NO standing and, thus, NO expectation of privacy in 10 commonly tested scenarios:
(1) Anything held out to the public (e.g., a conversation in public, or reading a book in public, etc.). If you are doing something in public, then you should expect members of the public (including police) to be able to notice or observe.
(2) Your voice. For example, if a court demands you provide a sample recording of your voice, you may not refuse to do so based on a 4A claim.
(3) Similarly, if a court demands that you provide a sample of your handwriting, no 4A claim exists (e.g., if Bob writes a bunch of handwritten death threats, a court can require Bob to handwrite something so they can compare and Bob can't claim it invaded his privacy to reveal his handwriting style).
(4) Police can collect paint samples from the exterior of your car to compare them to their database of paint collected from crime scenes.
(5) Bank account records, which may seem a little weird, but another way to think about it is: many individuals at a bank have access to your bank records, so they are inherently not something you keep completely private.
(6) The location of a car if it is parked on a street or a driveway.
(7) "Open fields," which means any part of a home outside of the curtilage. What's "curtilage"? Well, first off: it is one of the most memorable words you'll encounter in law school. Second, it is the area of land that is immediately surrounding a home. In other words, cops are allowed to walk up on your front lawn, but they can't stand immediately outside of your window and stare in.
(8) Police are allowed to view things, like your fenced off backyard, from public airspace above it (or even satellite photos).
(9) Police are allowed to smell (or have a dog smell) odors that come from inside of your car or luggage.
(10) Garbage that is placed on the curb is abandoned property in a public place, which means police (or anyone) may rummage through it. Note that garbage kept next to a home, within its curtilage, is not yet abandoned and thus is not yet free to look through by the public or police.
(1) Anything held out to the public (e.g., a conversation in public, or reading a book in public, etc.). If you are doing something in public, then you should expect members of the public (including police) to be able to notice or observe.
(2) Your voice. For example, if a court demands you provide a sample recording of your voice, you may not refuse to do so based on a 4A claim.
(3) Similarly, if a court demands that you provide a sample of your handwriting, no 4A claim exists (e.g., if Bob writes a bunch of handwritten death threats, a court can require Bob to handwrite something so they can compare and Bob can't claim it invaded his privacy to reveal his handwriting style).
(4) Police can collect paint samples from the exterior of your car to compare them to their database of paint collected from crime scenes.
(5) Bank account records, which may seem a little weird, but another way to think about it is: many individuals at a bank have access to your bank records, so they are inherently not something you keep completely private.
(6) The location of a car if it is parked on a street or a driveway.
(7) "Open fields," which means any part of a home outside of the curtilage. What's "curtilage"? Well, first off: it is one of the most memorable words you'll encounter in law school. Second, it is the area of land that is immediately surrounding a home. In other words, cops are allowed to walk up on your front lawn, but they can't stand immediately outside of your window and stare in.
(8) Police are allowed to view things, like your fenced off backyard, from public airspace above it (or even satellite photos).
(9) Police are allowed to smell (or have a dog smell) odors that come from inside of your car or luggage.
(10) Garbage that is placed on the curb is abandoned property in a public place, which means police (or anyone) may rummage through it. Note that garbage kept next to a home, within its curtilage, is not yet abandoned and thus is not yet free to look through by the public or police.
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Related Concepts
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