Conditions of searches

In general, a few things have been established. First, in an instance where a person has not been arrested and a search must be conducted in an area where a person has a reasonable expectation of privacy, law enforcement officials are required to gain permission from an arbiter, i.e. the courts, in order to be allowed to search someone. It is, for example, unlawful to force someone to undergo surgery to uncover incriminating evidence because that would interfere with the privacy of the human body. The application of this has been vague, however. Under HIPAA, for example, federal agents are allowed to search medical records through administrative subpoenas, which do not require court approval.

Also, the courts have established that in certain cases, probable cause is not necessary in order to conduct a search. If a police officer suspects you may present a threat to others, he has the right to frisk you on reasonable suspicion. Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1 (1968) If you are driving drunk, you are likewise open to be searched on reasonable suspicion. In the case of random drug tests, no probable cause must be established in order to force you to be tested.

Regarding what level of notification must be provided to those who are to be searched: in some cases, notification of not only being searched, but also what is being searched, is necessary. For example, if you are being provided the service of a pregnancy test, and your sample is used to determine whether or not you have used illicit drugs, that is an illegal means of search if you are not informed. In certain cases the courts have found that where there is reason to believe that notification will lead to the destruction of evidence or the endangerment of lives, the government is not required to notify the searched party. This has been applied in the case of delayed notification, where the government is not required to inform you that you or your residence has been searched. It remains difficult to determine, though, whether certain federal actions are truly legal, or are merely the result of poorly defined legal boundaries.