[ExI] fourth amendment question

[Anders Sandberg]

spike <spike66 at att.net> , 22/10/2014 6:40 PM:


 

My American friends: if a prole discovers a way to identify a perpetrator (or more likely the family of the perp) who has never been arrested but who left DNA at the scene, would that technique be 4th amendment compliant?
I recommend this flowchart: http://lawcomic.net/guide/?p=2256 (and actually reading the chapter)
My understanding is that the 4th amendment does not apply - the prole is not the police and was not acting on behalf of the police. Note that when the prole brings it to the legal authorities they may on the other hand have trouble going further. I suspect that it will depend a lot on who the prosecutor is. 

Anders Sandberg, Future of Humanity Institute Philosophy Faculty of Oxford University

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