Texas-Book-Gun Law Armed And Educated - Flipbook - Page 30
locations to search or what items to seize. To make matters even
worse, they never expired and could be transferred from person
to person. The result was a blanket authorization by the British
government to interfere with the private affairs of the colonists,
with no real restrictions, checks, or balances. The goal of the Fourth
Amendment was to restrict the police and provide “security” to
Americans against a snooping, abusive government.
B. How is the government limited today?
Today’s driving force in Fourth Amendment law is called the
“reasonable expectation of privacy.” This concept recognizes that
private affairs follow the person, and are not necessarily confined
to a particular location (such as a home or car). When an individual
is guaranteed a reasonable expectation of privacy, the government
must obtain a warrant from a neutral magistrate (or satisfy an
exception as discussed in Chapter 4) before conducting a lawful
search or seizure. This reasonable expectation of privacy is what we
think of as our “right to privacy.” While it is not a right specifically
guaranteed in the Bill of Rights, it is a principle that comes from
courts interpreting the Fourth Amendment over the decades.
III. LEGAL LEVELS OF PROOF
Officers must meet certain standards of proof before engaging in
many police encounters with citizens. In order to lawfully detain,
search, or arrest, the police must obtain certain levels of proof to
believe that a person is connected to some criminal activity. What
are these levels of proof, and how are they defined in Texas?
A. Reasonable suspicion
Reasonable suspicion is the legal standard that a police officer must
have in order to legally stop and detain a person or “pat down” a
Know Your Rights: Part I | 19
