On December 21, 1911, Fremont Weeks, an employee of the Adams Express Company, was arrested while on the job at Union Station in Kansas City, Missouri. Police suspected that Weeks was selling and "transmitting chances" in a lottery, which at the time was considered gambling, an illegal action in Missouri. While Weeks was being held at…

The Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects the people of the United States from unreasonable searches and seizures. On first reading, these protections seem clearly defined. The amendment was meant to protect Americans from the kinds of random searches and seizures that the colonists experienced under British colonial rule. Under…

Reactions to the retirement of Justice Sandra Day O'Connor and debate over the president's replacement nomination, Judge John Roberts, Jr., of the D.C. Circuit, dominated this summer's Supreme Court recess. Subsequently, after Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist's death on September 3, 2005, President Bush nominated Roberts for the chief justice…

In New Jersey v. T.L.O., a case argued in 1984, the Supreme Court was asked to decide whether incriminating evidence found by a school assistant princial during the search of a student's purse can be used in a criminal trial. Issues, facts, background, and arguments of the case are provided. (RM)

Traces the application of the constitutional protection from "unreasonable searches and seizures" as it has evolved in response to public attitudes and changes in technology. Includes a synopsis of relevant cases and two lesson plans. The cases concern a police search through trash bags and drug testing for athletes. (MJP)