A Fourth Amendment-Based
High School Civics Curriculum
High School Civics Curriculum
“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."
- The Fourth Amendment of The Constitution |
Searches Evolved with Technology
General Warrants King George III's agents used general warrants to search the home of his critics in Parliament John Entick, a writer and critic of the king, sued the agents. In 1763, the judge ruled that a search had to be based upon “probable cause,” and that only something specifically involved in a crime could be seized. Using general warrants, called Writs of Assistance, tax agents of King George III regularly and randomly searched the homes and shops of residents of the Massachusetts Bay colony. James Otis sued the king's agents and his argument became the basis of our Fourth Amendment. |
Reverse Search Warrants
In the digital age, law enforcement and other government agencies have access to what are effectively general warrants: they are called reverse search warrants. A reverse search warrant allows law enforcement, with less evidence than is required by a court for a specific probable cause warrant, to ask a technology company to provide previously collected information in order to help them identify a suspect in a crime. |
Geofence Searches, Tower Dumps and Stingrays
Geofence searches, tower dumps and stingrays identify all cell phones present at a specific location in a certain time frame. Keyword Searches Keyword searches reveal any device at a specific location that searched for the entered keywords in a certain time frame. |
Learning Outcomes - Students will apply historical legal principles for searches and seizures as they develop guidelines for modern-day private data searches - After studying foundational cases and data storage in modern electronic devices, students will construct a mock Supreme Court opinion on cell phone searches - Students will create mock applications for reverse search warrants. |
Pedagogy - Modeling civic engagement in the learning process - Maximizing participation through directed group discussions, gallery walks, silent conversations, journaling, and presentations - Highlights Fourth Amendment topics of special interest to teens |
Relating The Fourth Amendment To The Present Students watch the interrogation of a teen by police which led to his false conviction and three year prison sentence. They learn that his plight inspired a movement that resulted in a 2020 California law that requires minors to have an attorney present during interrogation. In a 2021 report by Bruce Lashan, students see firsthand the impact of a reverse search warrant served on a woman who had been near the Capitol on January 6. Here is the full video. Students write an application for a search warrant based upon the facts of the case in which police used a keyword search to help identify the arsonist who targeted a witness in the trial against R. Kelly. |
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