Presented by the West Virginia University College of Law
12 p.m. Thursday, February 17, 2011
Marlyn E. Lugar Courtroom
WVU Law Center
The Fourth Amendment has become irrelevant today to a large body of police work because the United States Supreme Court has said, simply, that it does not apply, i.e., there is no privacy interest to protect, there has been no search, or there has been no seizure. Additionally, consent has become a very fertile ground of evidence gathering since the Supreme Court ruled that a person does not have to be informed of his or her right to refuse a request to search. As a result, and through the use of various police tactics, people consent to what would otherwise be an impermissible search of their property.
Discussants:
Gerald G. Ashdown
James H. “Buck” and June M. Harless Professor of Law
West Virginia University
College of Law
Gerald G. Ashdown graduated from the University of Iowa College of Law in 1972. After a brief time in practice with the Los Angeles law firm of Adams, Duque & Hazeltine, he returned to the University of Iowa College of Law to teach for a year before joining the University of Kentucky law faculty. He became a member of the law faculty at the West Virginia University College of Law in 1979. He served as Associate Dean from 1984-1986, and was appointed the James H. “Buck” and June M. Harless Professor of Law in 2001.
John M. Burkoff
Professor of Law
University of Pittsburgh
School of Law
John M. Burkoff, a graduate of the University of Michigan (A.B., J.D.) and Harvard University (LL.M.), is a prolific author, teacher, public speaker, lawyer, and expert witness. Professor of Law at the University of Pittsburgh since 1976 and Associate Dean of Academic Affairs from 2000 to 2004, he has published twenty-eight books and over sixty articles in the areas of criminal justice and legal ethics. He is also the long-time editor of a monthly newsletter relating to search and seizure issues published by West Publishing. Professor Burkoff has been awarded both the Chancellor’s Distinguished Public Service Award (2009) and the Chancellor’s Distinguished Teaching Award (1987) by the University of Pittsburgh. He was voted Teacher of the Year by the graduating class of the University of Pittsburgh Law School in 2007.