Criminal Justice Opinion Portfolio Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Criminal Justice Opinion Portfolio - Essay Example Be it the declaration of Independence or the United States constitution, sovereignty is always placed in the hands of the common man. The civil state is beholden to protect the rights of the individual. According to the Fourth Amendment, one has freedom from search and seizure, absent warrant when there is a justifiable requirement of privacy. Currently, it is Fourth Amendment that actually defines the common privacy rights enjoyed by US citizens. Respect to a person’s reasonable expectation of privacy must be maintained according to a 1967 Supreme Court ruling. The state can take any measure to ensure the safety of its citizens. On grounds of suspicion of ‘unusual conduct’, the state can resort to Stop and Frisk measures. But, it must be done after accumulating specific and articulable facts drawn from rational inferences. This can protect the right to privacy from undue interference of the state. Without a warrant there cannot be a seizure on a person, his home or personal property. This includes brief detention when the government is actually encroaching upon the possessory interests of the person to accumulate evidence. It is actually the exceptions that can result in a conflict between the interests of the state and the right to privacy of the respective individual. Even momentary detention is allowed under specific circumstances when the government has no other means to attain its objective. It can be in the form of the brief detention of the motorists or the immigration checkpoints or creating roadblocks to nab a fleeing criminal or locating a suspected bomb. This is to uphold the requirement of the society which is of greater interest. The lives of the citizens and the state’s information assets must be secured, under the current threat of terrorism. With transparent international borders it is indeed a ceaseless strife to maintain an effective balance between