Discuss, describe, compare, and contrast the protections of the Fourth and Fifth Amendments with regard to documents. Be sure to provide examples

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

The Fourth Amendment provides that "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated." Therefore, law enforcement officers and other governmental officials cannot intrude into a "zone of privacy" of a person to seize documents, writings, or records without a showing of proper authority. The plain view and public view doctrines apply to documents and writings as follows:
- Plain view: If officers are where they have a right to be and they see a document or writing in plain view that is immediately apparent to be evidence of a crime, they may seize the document or writing.
- Public view: Handwriting, like the tone of a person's voice, is constantly exposed to public view, and therefore samples may be compelled by court or grand jury order.
In addition, the business records of banks, stock brokerage houses, and other financial institutions are available to governmental authorities because such records are not private papers of individual investors and account holders. The Fifth Amendment provides that "No person shall ... be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself." The Fifth Amendment therefore forbids demanding that a suspect write out a confession or otherwise incriminate himself by producing a writing. The U.S. Supreme Court stated the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination as follows:
- The constitutional privilege against self-incrimination is designed to prevent the use of legal process to force from the lips of the accused individual the evidence necessary to convict him or to force him to produce and authenticate any personal documents or effects that might incriminate him. Although the government cannot force a suspect to produce a document that incriminates the suspect, this does not mean that the government cannot lawfully seize a document that incriminates the defendant. Any student responses should be based on the key elements of each Amendment.