Many court hearings are now virtual. This means that some or all of the litigants and witnesses participate by video. Are virtual hearings compromising the Fourth Amendment rights of domestic violence victims/survivors and children involved with Child Protective Services?

The Fourth Amendment protects people from unreasonable searches and seizures. This includes searches and seizures of peoples’ homes, businesses, private property and their bodies. Absent probable cause, the government is faced with a firm “Do not enter” stop sign. In a recent Ohio case that received considerable media attention, Cleveland State University learned this lesson. A U.S. district court ruled that the university was not permitted to virtually scan a student’s room prior to that student taking an online test. The judge held that the student’s “… subjective expectation of privacy at issue is one that society views as reasonable and that lies at the core of the Fourth Amendment’s protections against governmental intrusion.”

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