Rule(s) of Law: Variation in The Application of Constitutional Rights

• In Event: Participation, Voting and Civil Rights in the United States

Abstract

In the United States, the application of national law can vary considerably by region. Due to limited review by the U.S. Supreme Court, the United States Courts of Appeals have the final say in over 90 percent of federal cases. But these courts are organized into 12 regional jurisdictions (or circuits), and they often disagree over how federal law should be interpreted and applied. These disagreements—or circuit splits—even extend to constitutional questions like what rights individuals enjoy under the Fourth Amendment’s guarantee against unreasonable search and seizure. I examine 27 circuit splits concerning the application of the Fourth Amendment to evaluate how differently constitutional rights are applied to defendants for no other reason than that they live in different parts of the country.

Author

• Josephine W Mason, SUNY Buffalo State University