Kanovitz, Constitutional Law for Criminal Justice, 14th Edition
Multiple-Choice Examination and True/False Questions
Chapter 5
Laws Governing Police Surveillance
Multiple-Choice Questions
1. In which of the following situations is a search warrant necessary?
a. to attach a tracking device to the undercarriage of the suspect’s car vehicle while it is
parked on a public street
b. to videotape a drug deal in a suspect’s home by equipping an informer with a concealed
video camera
c. to walk a drug-detection dog down a motel corridor and perform a sniff at every door
d. none of the above
2. In which of the following situations is a search warrant required?
a. to use binoculars to peer through the suspect’s window while standing in an open field
located on his property
b. to fly a helicopter over the suspect’s back yard to take pictures of his marijuana garden
c. to aim a thermal-imaging device at a suspect’s home from across the street to detect the
heat distribution patterns inside the home
d. none of the above
4. The principle that information voluntarily disclosed to a confederate is not protected by the
Fourth Amendment derives from:
a. Katz v. United States
b. Hoffa v. United States
c. Florida v. Jardines
d. United States v. Jones
5. A search warrant is required to:
a. use advanced police surveillance equipment to spy on activities inside a home that are not
visible from the outside
b. attach a tracking device to the suspect’s property
c. engage in long-term electronic surveillance
d. all of the above
6. A wiretap order is not required to secretly tape-record a conversation when:
a. the officer is a party to the conversation
b. the conversation takes place in the backseat of a squad car
c. the conversation is audible to the officer
d. in any of these situations
7. Access to stored e-mail, voice mail, and text messages is regulated by the:
a. Wiretap Act
b. Electronic Communications Privacy Act
c. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act
d. none of the above
8. All of the following are procedural requirements for a wiretap order except for:
a. proof that traditional investigative techniques must have been tried and failed or are
unlikely to succeed
b. the duration of the order is limited to 15 days
c. the application must be approved by high-ranking official within the Justice Department
d. orders are available only for serious crimes such as espionage, kidnapping, or murder
9. Using signals given off by the suspect’s cell to track his movements along public
thoroughfares violates the:
a. Fourth Amendment
b. Wiretap Act
c. Stored Wire and Electronic Communications and Transactional Records Act
d. none of the above
10. The Wiretap Act protects the following types of communications:
a. oral communications that are uttered with the expectation of privacy under circumstances
justifying that expectation
b. tone-only paging device
c. stored text messages
d. all of the above
11. A wiretap order is not required to monitor a telephone call when:
a. notice is given that calls may be monitored
b. the call is made from a public telephone booth
c. the telephone company consents to the installation of a wiretap
d. in any of the above
12. The Wiretap Act does not cover:
a. silent video surveillance
b. use of pen/trap devices
c. hacking into a computer to access stored e-mail messages
d. any of the above
13. Video surveillance that produces a sound track requires:
a. compliance with the Fourth Amendment
b. compliance with the Wiretap Act
c. compliance with the Fourth Amendment and the Wiretap Act
d. a FISA surveillance order
14. FBI agents have good reason to believe that Sam and his sister Mary Wanna were involved in
the theft of an important work of art that was being shipped from one museum to another.
The theft occurred yesterday. Sam and Mary live in different cities and communicate
primarily by e-mail. FBI agents want access to the e-mail exchanged between them over the
last 30 days. They will need:
a. a wiretap order
b. a search warrant issued under Stored Wire and Electronic Communications and
Transactional Records Act
c. a subpoena
d. nothing, because there is no legal protection for e-mail once it has been opened and read
15. Installation and use of a pen/trap device requires:
a. a court order issued based on application under oath that the information is likely to be
relevant to an ongoing criminal investigation
b a search warrant
c. a wiretap order
d. nothing because it only provides dialing information; it does not intercept the contents of
the communication
16. A FISA electronic surveillance order may be obtained only when:
a. the target of the surveillance is a foreign power or an agent of a foreign power
b. the target of the surveillance resides outside the United States
c. the application has been personally reviewed and approved by the President
d. all of the above
17. A pen register is used to:
a. track e-mail messages
b. identify the source and destination of phone calls
c. intercept phone calls
d. none of the above
18. The Supreme Court has given the following reason for holding that a dog sniff is not a
search under the Fourth Amendment:
a. The odor of narcotics emanating from the object sniffed has been exposed to public view.
b. Suspects have no Fourth Amendment protection against use of detection devices that
react only to the presence of contraband, without providing information about innocent
activity.
c. Suspects encountered in a place where they can be seen by members of the public have
no reasonable expectation of privacy.
d. A search warrant would not provide added protection because alerts by well-trained
narcotics detection dogs are highly accurate.
19. A wiretap order is not required to intercept a protected communication when:
a. the device is installed without trespassing on the suspect’s property
b. the interception is carried on with the knowledge and approval of the Attorney General of
the United States or the highest prosecuting officer of a state
c. a party to the community consents
d. any of the above
20. Congress enacted the Wiretap Law in response to:
a. news of widespread snooping by the Director of the FBI on political enemies
b. a Supreme Court decision holding that the Fourth Amendment does not protect against
wiretapping
c. a Supreme Court decision holding that wiretapping constitutes a Fourth Amendment
search and requires a search warrant
d. increasing sophistication of police surveillance devices