11.5 Case Brief: Fourth Amendment Supreme Court Cases

The Supreme Court usually considers Fourth Amendment cases starting with a basic question, “Was there a search or a seizure?” If so, the Court must ask whether the search or seizure was reasonable. If not, then the search or seizure violates the Fourth Amendment. In this activity, you will explore landmark decisions by the Supreme Court interpreting the Fourth Amendment.

You will work with a group to review one of the following cases:

• Olmstead v. United States (1928)
• Mapp v. Ohio (1961)
• Katz v. United States(1967)
• Terry v. Ohio(1968)
• Carpenter v. United States(2018)

Read excerpts from your assigned case from the Founders’ Library and complete the chart below as if your role is to brief the case like a constitutional lawyer.

• Facts: Who are the people (parties) associated with the case? What was the dispute between them?
• Issue: What is the constitutional issue in the case? What constitutional provision is at issue? What is the constitutional question that the Supreme Court has to answer?
• Rule: What was the outcome in the case? How did the justices vote? What was the Court’s ruling? What sort of rule does the Court come up with to resolve the issue?
• Application: How did this change the way that the Court interprets the Fourth Amendment?