The Rights of Citizens: Second, Fourth, and Tenth Amendments

The Rights of Citizens
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The Rights of Citizens
Part 1
The amendments relating to the scenario presented here include the Second, Fourth, and Tenth Amendments. The Second Amendment relates to the scenario because the suspect can use it to claim the law protects him to carry the weapon. The Fourth Amendment relates to the case since it stipulates the instances that would warrant search and seizure. Finally, the Tenth Amendment relates to the scenario in the sense that it was intended to ensure that “powers not granted to the United States were reserved to the States or the people” (Cornell Law School, 1). Therefore, in this particular instance, the State’s statute or law deeming the carrying of a concealed weapon as illegal will take precedence.
It is possible to collect evidence and have it be considered inadmissible while in court. However, to ensure the admissibility of evidence, especially in this particular scenario, there is a need to follow a particular set of procedures. The first procedure is to ascertain that the weapon was carried. It is clear that the law states that carrying a concealed weapon is illegal. Therefore, for the evidence to be deemed admissible, it must be established that the suspect was indeed carrying the weapon and that it was concealed as well. So, it must be established beyond reasonable doubt that the suspect was indeed in possession of the weapon and was carrying it. Secondly, it must be established that the weapon was not in the view of any ordinary person. Establishing these two cases beyond a reasonable doubt will have the evidence be admissible.
The officer’s actions, including his search and the weapon discovery, were lawful. In accordance with the Fourth Amendment, the search that Officer Smith conducted was based upon probable cause. Officer Smith had already been notified of the weapon inside the student’s backpack, and this qualifies as a probable cause because the school’s security guard had already seen it. Further, the student’s confession is admissible. According to the U.S. Code 3501 on Admissibility of Confessions, it is stipulated that a confession “shall be admissible in evidence if it is voluntarily given” (Cornell Law School, 2). However, it is crucial to understand that a judge needs to ascertain the voluntariness of the student’s confession.
Part 2
The Fourth Amendment relates to the case presented in scenario two. The Fourth Amendment protects the citizens against arbitrary arrest, and Tyler’s case appears to be a case of arbitrary arrest. Even though the Fourth Amendment does not indicate a warrant as a requirement to make a lawful arrest, it does require that a warrantless arrest be made on the basis of there being “an urgent need” or where “probable cause” exists (Cornell Law School, 3). However, there was no probable cause in the scenario presented, and the officers were not arresting Tyler based on facts and evidence collected against him (Cornell Law School, 3). The Fifth Amendment also relates to the scenario presented. This particular Amendment speaks to the importance of following due process while maki...