Standing Up for Fourth Amendment Rights: Salvucci, Rawlings, and the Reasonable Expectation of Privacy (Comment)

The initial inquiry a court must make before considering a motion to suppress evidence based on an unreasonable search and seizure is whether the individual has standing under the fourth amendment. This Note examines the historical development of the standing doctrines leading to the reasonable expectation of privacy test adopted by the Supreme Court in Rakas v. Illinois. The Note also identifies the problems created by the Court\u27s far-reaching application of this test. The author concludes that the overall effect of recent decisions may be to limit the number of defendants able to assert fourth amendment claims, since suppression hearing testimony may be admissible against a defendant for impeachment purposes should a defendant choose to testify on his or her own behalf The author\u27s conclusion is predicated on the belief that the factors comprising the reasonable expectation of privacy test are vague and shifting and the notion .that property rights have been abandoned in determining fourth amendment interests