The First Amendment Analysis

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First Amendment of the Bill of Rights to the United States Constitution “CONGRESS SHALL MAKE NO LAW RESPECTING AN ESTABLISHMENT OF RELIGION, OR PROHIBITING THE FREE EXERCISE THEREOF; OR ABRIDGING THE FREEDOM OF SPEECH, OR OF THE PRESS; OR THE RIGHT OF THE PEOPLE PEACEABLY TO ASSEMBLE, AND TO PETITION THE GOVERNMENT FOR A REDRESS OF GRIEVANCES” ( CORNELL, 2013, P.1) “First Amendment freedoms are most in danger when the government seeks to control thought or to justify its laws for that impermissible end. The right to think is the beginning of freedom, and speech must be protected from the government because speech is the beginning of thought.”—Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, Ashcroft V. Free Speech Coalition (First Amendment,…show more content…
This amendment restricts their course of action during a criminal investigation (Fourth Amendment, 2013). However, it also bans unreasonable searches and seizures in the context of civil litigation (Fourth Amendment, 2013). A search may only be conducted if suspicion is the motivation to do so (Fourth Amendment, 2013). Under the Fourth Amendment, generalized searches are prohibited unless circumstances which place the general public in jeopardy (Fourth Amendment, 2013). If an individual wants to sue regarding a supposed Fourth Amendment violation, they must have a standing (Fourth Amendment, 2013). A standing requires that there is a legitimate expectation of privacy at the location where the search took place (Fourth Amendment, 2013). To be considered a legitimate expectation of privacy it must pass two tests of subjective and objective reasonableness (Fourth Amendment, 2013). The subjective test requires that the individual truly did expect privacy and the objective test requires that a reasonable person in a similar or the same situation would expect privacy as well (Fourth Amendment, 2013). Additionally, the Fourteenth Amendment applies the Fourth Amendment’s stipulations contrary to the states and the federal government (Fourth Amendment, 2013).Generally, courts will count evidence illegally obtained through unlawful searches and seizures as inadmissible (Fourth Amendment, 2013). This is known as the exclusionary rule and applies equally to the investigatory and accusatory stages of a criminal prosecution (Fourth Amendment,

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