Legal Studies

Posted: February 2nd, 2023

Legal Studies
The following discussion comes from your week 2 readings. Outside research to address these issues is encouraged. I would suggest using the online library for additional sources of information and research. In addition, I would recommend utilizing the legal studies program guide.

The Fourth Amendment sets limitations to stop and frisk and arrests. It also affords individuals to be protected against unreasonable searches and seizures.

This forum asks you to examine probable cause and illegal searches and seizures.

Please thoroughly discuss each of the following:

A police officer must have probable cause to arrest an individual. What is probable cause? How much probable cause is needed to secure an arrest or search warrant?
What is the exclusionary rule? Discuss the exceptions to the exclusionary rule.
Discuss the difference in a stop and frisk and an arrest. What are the requirements for an officer to conduct a “stop and frisk”?
Legal Studies
Probable cause is applied in criminal law and outline that the police must have adequate reason to arrest someone or seize property as well as searching for an alleged crime. Therefore, for the police to arrest someone, search or seize property, then there must be a probable cause. However, there are some situations where police are allowed to arrest or seize property without a warrant, but there must have probable cause to initiate the charges.
The judges determine the amount of probable cause required to secure or make a warrant of arrest. The police must prove with adequate evidence of the circumstances that made them believe that the suspect committed the crime. The judges have to establish if the probable cause is enough for the arrest or a search to be made. In some cases, if the judges examine the information presented by the police and disagree, then the probable cause will not exist. The amount of probable cause can also be determined by the analysis of the circumstances surrounding the alleged crime (Houston, 2016). Additionally, the absence of the probable cause decreases the probability that the crime was committed.
The exclusionary outlines that the evidence and the statements obtained through an illegal interrogation and in violation of the fourth and sixth amendment of the United States Constitution cannot be admitted at a criminal trial for the person whose rights have been violated. The exceptions include the inevitable discovery that defines the inevitably discovered evidence through lawful means, the independent source doctrine, knock and announce that defines how police should conduct arrests at a person’s residence.
To stop or detain means that the police, the police must have a reasonable suspicion that the detainee was involved in a crime. In frisk, the police have no authority of frisking an individual without a verifiable reason that the person is armed and dangerous. On the other hand, the police can arrest someone only after obtaining a warrant of arrest or a probable cause. A police officer must obtain a probable cause or a warrant of arrest to conduct a stop and frisk. The police should have reasonable suspicious supported by facts that the criminal activity has occurred or the suspect is armed and dangerous (Houston, 2016).

Reference
Houston, C. (2016). Probable Cause Means Probable Cause: Why the Circuit Courts Should Uniformly Require Officers to Establish Probable Cause for Every Element of an Offense. U. Chi. Legal F., 809.