Two officers were walking in a neighborhood known for high volumes of drug deals.

 

 

 

Two officers were walking in a neighborhood known for high volumes of drug deals. They came across the car of an individual whom they had arrested two years prior for drug dealing. The car was parked on a curb in front of a residence.

One officer peeked inside the car, the other walked down the sidewalk to the house and up to the corner of the wooden fence surrounding the house. The second officer noticed a strange looking garden in the yard through the cracks of the fence. He put his foot in a small hole at the bottom of the fence and pulled his head up over the fence looking into the yard and noticed several plants that resembled marijuana growing in the yard.

He informed the other officer and they walked around to the back of the house to see if the owner of the house was home. As they walked around the house, three men in the back of the house noticed the officers through the cracks of the fence and quickly went inside the house. The officers then jumped over the fence and approached the house, ordering all occupants out of the house.

When questioned about the plants, the house owner admitted that it was marijuana. He was arrested.

https://www.oyez.org/cases/1985/84-1513

https://www.oyez.org/cases/2000/99-1132

Were the marijuana plants spotted by the officer in plain view under California v. Ciraolo? Why?
What details could be added to the scenario to increase the likelihood that the marijuana plants were in plain view? Explain. What details could be added to the scenario to decrease the likelihood that the marijuana plants were in plain view?
If the marijuana plants were spotted legally, did the officers then have the right to walk around the house? Explain.
Did the officers have a right to jump the fence and order everyone out of the house? Explain.
Did the officers have a right to make the arrest under Illinois v. McArthur? Explain.

Sample Solution

ken where evil doesn’t outweigh the possible benefits (Begby et al (2006b), Page 325).’ This is further supported by Frowe who explains it is lawful to unintentionally kill, whenever the combatant has full knowledge of his actions and seeks to complete his aim, but it would come at a cost. However, this does not hide the fact the unintended still killed innocent people, showing immorality in their actions. Thus, it depends again on proportionality as Thomson argues (Frowe (2011), Page 141).
This leads to question of what qualifies to be a combatant, and whether it is lawful to kill each other as combatants. Combatants are people who are involved directly or indirectly with the war and it is lawful to kill ‘to shelter the innocent from harm…punish evildoers (Begby et al (2006b), Page 290).However, as mentioned above civilian cannot be harmed, showing combatants as the only legitimate targets, another condition of jus in bello, as ‘we may not use the sword against those who have not harmed us (Begby et al (2006b), Page 314).’ In addition, Frowe suggested combatants must be identified as combatants, to avoid the presence of guerrilla warfare which can end up in a higher death count, for example, the Vietnam War. Moreover, he argued they must be part of the army, bear arms and apply to the rules of jus in bello. (Frowe (2011), Page 101-3). This suggests Frowe seeks a fair, just war between two participants avoiding non-combatant deaths, but wouldn’t this lead to higher death rate for combatants, as both sides have relatively equal chance to win since both use similar tactics? Nevertheless, arguably Frowe will argue that combatant can lawfully kill each other, showing this is just, which is also supported by Vittola, who states: ‘it is lawful to draw the sword and use it against malefactors (Begby et al (2006b), Page 309).’
In addition, Vittola expresses the extent of military tactics used, but never reaches a conclusion whether it’s lawful or not to proceed these actions, as he constantly found a middle ground, where it can be lawful to do such things but never always (Begby et al (2006b), Page 326-31). This is supported by Frowe, who measures the legitimate tactics according to proportionality and military necessity. It depends on the magnitude of how much damage done to one another, in order to judge the actions after a war. For example, one cannot simply nuke the terrorist groups throughout the middle-east, because it is not only proportional, it will damage the whole population, an unintended consequence. More importantly, the soldiers must have the right intention in what they are going to achieve, sacrificing the costs to their actions. For example: if soldiers want to execute all prisoners of war, they must do it for the right intention and for a just cause, proportional to the harm done to them. This is supported by Vittola: ‘not always lawful to execute all combatants…we must take account… scale of the injury inflicted by the enemy.’ This is further supported by Frowe approach

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