NLETC Arrest Search and Seizure Practice Test

The Katz search is emblematic of the principle of reasonable expectation of privacy, as established by the U.S. Supreme Court in Katz v. United States. In this case, the Court recognized that the Fourth Amendment protects people, not just places, and that an individual's reasonable expectation of privacy must be considered when evaluating the legality of a search. The Katz decision established that a search violates this expectation if it is conducted without a warrant or probable cause, in circumstances where the individual has a subjective expectation of privacy that society is prepared to recognize as reasonable.

When analyzing other types of searches, like the Jones search derived from United States v. Jones, which involved the installation of a GPS tracking device on a vehicle without a warrant, it's important to note that while it also raises significant Fourth Amendment issues, the specific nature of the Jones case did not hinge purely on the expectation of privacy in the same way that Katz did.

The Katz search thus represents the violation of a reasonable expectation of privacy most directly, setting the foundation for how privacy expectations are assessed in subsequent cases. Therefore, this principle makes the Katz search the correct context for understanding violations of privacy expectations in search and seizure law.