Also known as: reasonable expectation of privacy test · reasonable expectations of privacy test · reasonable expectation of privacy · Katz test · REP test
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A two-part inquiry that determines whether government action constitutes a search under the Fourth Amendment. The inquiry first asks whether the individual exhibited an actual subjective expectation of privacy. It then asks whether that expectation is one that society is prepared to recognize as reasonable.
Ronald Reed placed several sealed bags of household refuse at the edge of his driveway for scheduled pickup. Officers collected the bags without a warrant and found incriminating documents inside. Because the bags had been left for collection outside the home's curtilage, Reed's motion to suppress the evidence was denied.
Rebecca Ross's wireless carrier released four months of historical cell-site location information to federal agents pursuant to a court order that required only relevance. The records placed Ross at multiple locations tied to an ongoing investigation. Ross successfully moved to suppress the data because the government had not obtained a warrant supported by probable cause.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Ryan Roberts stayed overnight at his cousin's apartment with permission and kept personal belongings in a guest bedroom. Police entered the apartment without a warrant and seized evidence from the bedroom. Roberts was permitted to challenge the search because an overnight guest possesses a reasonable expectation of privacy in the host's home.
Roland Rhodes entered a public telephone booth, closed the door, and paid for the call. Agents attached a listening device to the outside of the booth and recorded his conversation without a warrant. Rhodes prevailed on his suppression motion because he had exhibited a subjective expectation of privacy that society recognizes as reasonable.
Rosalind Reed was present when officers arrived at her apartment after a fatal shooting. The officers remained for four days, conducting a warrantless search of every room and seizing numerous items. Reed's motion to suppress succeeded because the prolonged, warrantless search exceeded any recognized exception to the warrant requirement.
Renata Russo rode as a passenger in a car borrowed from a friend. Officers stopped the vehicle and searched the interior without a warrant, recovering evidence later used against Russo. Russo lacked standing to challenge the search because she had no ownership interest in the car and could not claim a personal reasonable expectation of privacy in its contents.
No. The test generally denies protection to information a person knowingly exposes to the public or voluntarily conveys to third parties. Historical cell-site location records are an exception because their pervasive and long-term nature reveals the privacies of daily life even when held by a carrier.
Yes. An overnight guest generally possesses a reasonable expectation of privacy in the host's home and may therefore challenge a search of the premises under the Fourth Amendment.
No. There is no reasonable expectation of privacy in garbage left for collection outside the curtilage of a home, so officers may search and seize the trash without a warrant or probable cause.
Yes. Co-conspirators and defendants charged with possessory offenses must demonstrate that their own Fourth Amendment rights were violated by showing a personal reasonable expectation of privacy in the place searched or items seized.
…(a) that an enclosed telephone booth is an area where, like a home and unlike a field, a person has a constitutionally protected reasonable expectation of privacy; (b) that electronic as well as physical intrusion into a place that is in this sense private may constitute a violation of the Fourth Amendment; and (c) that the invasion of a…