CSX Legal Framework & Constitutional Law 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Under the Fourth Amendment, which doctrine holds that evidence found in plain view during a lawful search is admissible even if not specified in the warrant?
- Plain view doctrine (Correct answer)
- Fruit of the poisonous tree
- Silver platter doctrine
- Inevitable discovery rule
Correct answer: Plain view doctrine
The plain view doctrine allows law enforcement to seize evidence not listed in a warrant if it is in plain sight during a lawful search.
Question 2: Which U.S. Supreme Court case established that warrantless searches of cell phone data incident to arrest are generally unconstitutional?
- Katz v. United States
- Riley v. California (Correct answer)
- United States v. Jones
- Carpenter v. United States
Correct answer: Riley v. California
Riley v. California (2014) held that police must generally obtain a warrant before searching the digital contents of a cell phone seized during an arrest.
Question 3: An organization receives a subpoena for employee email records. Under the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA), which provision primarily governs access to stored electronic communications?
- Title I – Wiretap Act
- Title II – Stored Communications Act (Correct answer)
- Title III – Pen Register Act
- Title IV – Computer Fraud Act
Correct answer: Title II – Stored Communications Act
Title II of ECPA, the Stored Communications Act (SCA), governs government access to stored emails and other electronic data held by third-party providers.
Question 4: In the context of cybersecurity law, what is 'third-party doctrine' most relevant to?
- Liability of software vendors for security flaws
- Reduced Fourth Amendment protection for information shared with third parties (Correct answer)
- Mandatory breach notification to affected individuals
- Jurisdiction over cross-border cybercrime
Correct answer: Reduced Fourth Amendment protection for information shared with third parties
The third-party doctrine holds that individuals have reduced Fourth Amendment expectations in information voluntarily shared with third parties such as banks or ISPs.
Question 5: Which case established the 'reasonable expectation of privacy' test that forms the basis of modern Fourth Amendment digital surveillance analysis?
- Olmstead v. United States
- Katz v. United States (Correct answer)
- Smith v. Maryland
- Kyllo v. United States
Correct answer: Katz v. United States
Katz v. United States (1967) established the two-part reasonable expectation of privacy test still used to evaluate Fourth Amendment claims in digital contexts.
Question 6: A federal agency seeks real-time GPS tracking of a suspect's vehicle without a warrant. Which Supreme Court ruling is most directly relevant to this scenario?
- United States v. Jones (2012) (Correct answer)
- Carpenter v. United States (2018)
- Terry v. Ohio (1968)
- Herring v. United States (2009)
Correct answer: United States v. Jones (2012)
United States v. Jones held that attaching a GPS device to a vehicle constitutes a Fourth Amendment search, requiring a warrant.
Question 7: Under the Pen Register Act (18 U.S.C. § 3121), what type of information may be collected with a court order that has a lower standard than a full search warrant?
- Content of communications
- Metadata such as dialed numbers and IP connection logs (Correct answer)
- Stored email contents older than 180 days
- Subscriber identity information from ISPs
Correct answer: Metadata such as dialed numbers and IP connection logs
Pen registers capture non-content metadata (e.g., numbers dialed, IP addresses contacted) and require only a court order showing relevance, not probable cause.
CSX Legal Framework & Constitutional Law 2
Under the Fourth Amendment, which doctrine holds that evidence found in plain view during a lawful search is admissible even if not specified in the warrant?