Topic: Fourth Amendment
Top galleries, list articles, quizzes
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'Stop and frisk': 7 questions about New York's controversial policing tactic
A federal class-action lawsuit regarding the New York Police Department’s stop-and-frisk program has raised questions about the controversial practice made legal under a 1968 US Supreme Court ruling. But what is it, and does it work?
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Alabama immigration law faces legal challenge: Can it survive?
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US Supreme Court opens, likely to wade into health care debate
It seems inevitable that the US Supreme Court will agree to hear the legal challenge to President Obama’s health care reform law, the Affordable Care Act. As the court opens Monday, gun laws, immigration, racial preferences, and separation of church and state loom as major issues as well.
10/02/2011 12:23 pm -
Did TSA airport screeners violate free speech rights of bare-chested student?
A US judge in Virginia allows a college student to sue two TSA screeners over his arrest after he stripped off his clothes to reveal a protest message written on his chest.
08/30/2011 10:11 pm -
Federal court: If you're arrested, officials can take a DNA sample
A legal challenge to the federal law that allows authorities to take DNA samples from people who have been arrested or detained – prior to any conviction – was rejected by a federal court.
07/25/2011 08:51 pm -
Alabama immigration law faces legal challenge: Can it survive?
Several civil-rights groups sued the state of Alabama Friday to block what some observers say is the toughest anti-illegal-immigration law to date. Among other things, it mandates that primary and secondary schools check residency status of students. Federal lawsuits have now been filed against the five states that have passed such laws during the past 15 months. The rulings that have come down, which have all been against the laws, have been appealed by the states' attorneys general in the hope that the Supreme Court will take up the issue. Here is the legal state of play for all five state laws:
07/08/2011 07:46 pm -
GPS tracking device: Supreme Court to consider its use in following suspects
GPS tracking device was installed by FBI agents to follow a man who was convicted of a drug conspiracy charge. The Supreme Court will consider: Is a warrant needed for long-term surveillance?
06/27/2011 07:29 pm -
Did jail strip search go too far? Supreme Court lets ruling stand.
A federal appeals court ruled that a woman's intimate search of a male inmate – which was filmed and watched by dozens – was unreasonable. The Supreme Court declined to take the case.
06/06/2011 04:28 pm -
Supreme Court: US Muslim cannot sue Ashcroft for 2003 detention ordeal
Former Attorney General John Ashcroft is entitled to qualified immunity and cannot be sued by an American Muslim detained under harsh conditions in 2003, the US Supreme Court ruled Tuesday.
05/31/2011 05:11 pm -
Supreme Court: No warrant needed if police discern destruction of evidence
The Supreme Court ruled 8 to 1 on a Kentucky case in which police broke into an apartment after smelling marijuana and hearing sounds suggesting evidence was being destroyed.
05/16/2011 08:32 pm -
TSA aimed to put body scanners in public places
TSA denies it used airport body scanners elsewhere. But documents show it tested similar technology at a commuter train station in New Jersey and signed contracts for more scanning in public places.
03/04/2011 11:14 am -
Why is Patriot Act under fire if homegrown terror threat is rising?
Amid new terror threats, US security officials say renewing key domestic spying provisions of the Patriot Act is critical to keep the US safe. Yet lawmakers are raising questions about the law.
02/10/2011 04:47 pm -
US judge dismisses lawsuit against Bush wiretap program
The suit had asked the courts to declare the Terrorist Surveillance Program illegal and unconstitutional. But a judge said the group challenging the wiretap program lacked legal standing.
02/01/2011 07:44 pm -
Are TSA pat-downs and full-body scans unconstitutional?
The TSA says the pat-downs and full body scans are necessary to keep airliners safe. But critics ask if such intimate searches violate the Fourth Amendment.
11/17/2010 04:03 pm -
Oil spill panel: a push for subpoena power in Deepwater Horizon probe
Senate Republicans have blocked subpoena power for President Obama's oil spill commission. The commission's chief counsel will push for it again, arguing it's needed to learn the truth about the Deepwater Horizon rig.
11/09/2010 09:35 am -
Can US kill American-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki? Judge to hear case.
American-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki is hiding in Yemen, where he's a leader of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. He's trained terrorist recruits and helped prepare the Christmas Day bomber.
11/07/2010 04:52 pm -
Supreme Court declines to hear wrongly accused man's Patriot Act challenge
A Muslim American who was wrongly accused of involvement in a terror attack challenged a Patriot Act change to FISA as violating the Fourth Amendment. A federal judge agreed.
11/01/2010 03:10 pm -
Opinion Why do Americans get the Constitution so wrong?
There’s no excuse for misquoting and misunderstanding the US Constitution. But public figures ranging from Nancy Pelosi to Rush Limbaugh do it all the time.
09/17/2010 12:01 pm -
Anwar al-Awlaki: ACLU wants militant cleric taken off US 'kill list'
The US government has linked Anwar al-Awlaki, a US citizen in Yemen, to the Fort Hood shootings and the Christmas Day bombing. But the ACLU filed a lawsuit Monday to stop an alleged plan to assassinate him.
08/31/2010 04:46 pm -
Did school use laptops to spy on students? Feds won't press charges.
Federal investigations into whether a Pennsylvania school district used school-issue laptops to take pictures of students – and of what they were doing online – did not yield enough evidence to file charges, a US attorney said Tuesday.
08/17/2010 09:24 pm -
The Monitor's View Next steps for the Arizona immigration law after court's preliminary decision
The federal court decision on the Arizona immigration law can be seen as a roadmap for a political compromise.
07/28/2010 06:30 pm -
'Grim Sleeper' case raises privacy concerns over use of DNA
'Grim Sleeper' serial killer case was broken when authorities used DNA taken from the suspect's family members. Is it a breakthrough in police science or an invasion of privacy?
07/08/2010 09:03 pm -
Supreme Court: Second Amendment rights apply across US
The US Supreme Court on Monday ruled that the Second Amendment's right to bear arms applies to every jurisdiction in the nation. It places in doubt the constitutionality of Chicago's handgun ban.
06/28/2010 02:46 pm -
Supreme Court backs police department that read employee's texts
A police sergeant was using a work-issued pager to send sexually explicit texts. The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the police department was entitled to read his messages.
06/17/2010 03:41 pm -
Bush wiretap program gets rebuke from federal judge
Bush authorized a wiretap program allowing US citizens with suspected terror links to be tapped without a warrant. Now, a judge has ruled that an Islamic charity was the subject of 'unlawful surveillance.'
04/01/2010 08:54 pm -
Opinion The 2010 Census: Will your answers stay private?
What you need to know about the 2010 Census: The bureau has a proven history of violating privacy in the name of security.
03/24/2010 10:20 am -
No right to bear unlicensed machine guns, federal court says
Tennessee State Guard commander Richard Hamblen said it's his Second Amendment right as part of a militia to convert assault rifles into fully automatic weapons. The Sixth US Circuit Court of Appeals disagreed.
12/30/2009 05:36 pm
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