The Law Dictionary for Everyone
Following is the case brief for Whren v. United States, 517 U.S. 806 (1996) Case Summary of Whren v. United States: Undercover officers observed Petitioners Whren and Brown in a truck. The driver of the truck (Brown) violated traffic laws by suddenly pulling away at an unreasonable speed. The officers stopped the truck and, upon approaching the truck on foot, […]
Read moreFollowing is the case brief for Olmstead v. United States, 277 U.S. 438 (1928) Case Summary of Olmstead v. United States: Olmstead, and other defendants, were convicted of conspiracy to violate the Prohibition Act. The evidence used to convict consisted of wiretapped conversations that were obtained without judicial approval. Olmstead challenged his conviction, claiming that the use of the wiretap […]
Read moreFollowing is the case brief for California v. Greenwood, 486 U.S. 35 (1988) Case Summary of California v. Greenwood: Police seized the trash bags left outside of Respondent Greenwood’s house. Evidence of drug activity was found in the bags, and that information was used to obtain a warrant to search Greenwood’s house. That occurred on two separate occasions. The search […]
Read moreFollowing is the case brief for Florida v. Jardines, 569 U.S. 1 (2013) Case Summary of Florida v. Jardines: Police used a drug-sniffing dog on Jardines’ front porch, and the dog alerted to the smell of marijuana. The police then obtained a warrant, found marijuana in the home, and arrested Jardines. At trial, Jardines moved to suppress the marijuana evidence. […]
Read moreFollowing is the case brief for Vernonia School District 47J v. Acton, 515 U.S. 646 (1995) Case Summary of Vernonia School District 47J v. Acton: Finding that the drug problem in the school district was getting alarmingly worse, and that school athletes were leaders in the drug culture at school, the Vernonia School District 47J created a student-athlete drug policy. […]
Read moreFollowing is the case brief for Wolf v. Colorado, 338 U.S. 25 (1949) Case Summary of Wolf v. Colorado: In two Colorado prosecutions for state crimes, evidence against the defendants was allowed at trial even though it was obtained through an unlawful search and seizure in violation of the Fourth Amendment. The convictions were affirmed by the Colorado Supreme Court. […]
Read moreFollowing is the case brief for Utah v. Strieff, 136 S. Ct. 2056 (2016) Case Summary of Utah v. Strieff: A police officer, suspecting that a house was being used for drug transactions, stopped Strieff when he walked out of the house. The officer asked for identification. When Strieff provided it, the officer ran a check on his name, discovering […]
Read moreFollowing is the case brief for Weeks v. United States, 232 U.S. 383 (1914) Case Summary of Weeks v. United States: Police officers arrested the defendant, Weeks, at his place of work. Police officers then went to Weeks’ home, gained entry, and took possession of papers and other articles belonging to Weeks. The police did not have a search warrant […]
Read moreFollowing is the case brief for Kyllo v. United States, 533 U.S. 27 (2001) Case Summary of Kyllo v. United States: Federal agents used a thermal imaging device outside of Kyllo’s home, suspecting that Kyllo was growing marijuana in his home, which requires use of heat lamps. The device indicated that more heat was emanating from Kyllo’s residence than from […]
Read moreFollowing is the case brief for New Jersey v. T.L.O., 469 U.S. 325 (1985) Case Summary of New Jersey v. T.L.O.: A 14-year-old high school student, T.L.O., was found smoking in the girls’ restroom at school. The Assistant Vice Principal subsequently searched her purse and found evidence of both cigarette smoking and marijuana dealing at the school. At the juvenile […]
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