In United States v. Hall, 47 F.3d 1091 (11th Cir. 1995), the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals discussed the difference between a business and an individual’s reasonable expectation of privacy in the area around their home or business (called the curtilage). In Hall, a government agent seized a bag of shredded documents from a dumpster located on the property of Bet-Air, Inc. Hall filed a motion to suppress the evidence on the grounds that the search and seizure was a violation of the Fourth Amendment. Review United States v. Hall and discuss the following:
What was the Court of Appeal’s decision?
Was the search and seizure a violation of the Fourth Amendment? Why or why not?
Would the result have been different if the dumpster was on private property rather than on commercial property?
Suppose you were an executive at Bet-Air. What recommendations would you make to help Bet-Air assert an expectation of privacy in the dumpster?
Your initial response should be a minimum of 200 words.
