Fourth Amendment Rights of Faculty

The Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects persons from “unreasonable searches and seizures.” Searches can be physically invasive or may invade individuals' legitimate expectation of privacy. Physical invasions, such as being forcibly restrained and ordered to strip for decontamination, seem clearly to invoke Fourth Amendment protection. However, the question of whether a [Page 189]search has taken place under less physically invasive circumstances, such as when a campus security officer looks into an open dormitory room, can be less clear. To make successful claims for protection under the Fourth Amendment for nonphysical invasions, individuals must have genuine beliefs not only that they have expectations of privacy but also that these expectations are reasonable in the view of an ordinary, reasonably prudent person experiencing the same ...