Resource: Future of the Fourth Amendment: The Problem with Privacy, Poverty and Policing

For decades, the reasonable expectation of privacy has been the primary standard by which courts have determined whether a “search” has occurred within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment. The Supreme Court’s recent decision in U.S. v. Jones, however, has reinvigorated the physical trespass doctrine’s importance when determining whether there has been a “search” triggering constitutional protection. Recognizing the unpredictability of the reasonable expectation of privacy doctrine and that doctrine’s bias against the urban poor, many scholars hope that the Jones opinion may ameliorate the class divide that has developed in Fourth Amendment >jurisprudence.

This Article argues that while Jones has reiterated that a physical trespass may trigger Fourth Amendment protection, this holding alone will not result in any appreciable strengthening of the privacy rights of the urban poor. The manner in which urban, inner city communities are over-policed and the aggressive law enforcement strategies employed in these areas, along with the current constitutional regime that has allowed these practices to flourish, are primarily responsible for the privacy inequities.