4th Amendment Right

The other day in my college dorm room, there were a group of guys in my room. We were watching tv and listening to music on the computer. It was past midnight, which is the end of visitation hours for people of the oppositie sex. Well, a Resident Advisor comes a knocking…I open the door…he says he heard a girl in my room. I say “no sir, you didnt”…as i hold our door open. “It must have been the music or the tv.” He says, “NO, it definetly was a girl…do you mind if i come in and do a quick search to see if there is a girl in here”. I say, “yes i do, we dont want you in our room, it’s our 4th amendment right”

Well after he finally gets the picture that i’m not gonna let him in, he says “well i’m gonna have to write this down then. And im gonna write that i heard a girl in your room.”

WEll now i’ve got a letter saying that i’m going to have to meet with the Hall Director to discuss this incident. So what can i tell this guy?? I know good and well that it’s my 4th amendment right not to let the guy in. And i know that i’m innocent until proven guilty, doesnt he have to prove that i had a girl in the room; not me prove that I didnt have one in the room. I just have a feeling that this hall director is going to give me trouble over this.

Thanks, Conti

4th amendment rights do not apply as the person attempting to gain access to your dorm room was not an instrument of any government institution. Depending on the lease agreement of your dorm, he probably had every right to search your room. Better look over that thing you signed before they gave you your room keys.

Don’t you have a student handbook that covers this sort of thing? Is there one available on-line? Those would be good places to start looking for your school’s guidelines. Off the top of my head, though, I have to believe the school has the right to enter and search your room. After all, they own it.

I am most definitely not a lawyer, but I believe the 4th Amendment will only protect you against unlawful searches by the government. Your situation is probably covered under your housing agreement and local and/or state laws. You may want to get the agreement you signed (probably) with the college. One of the things you may have agreed to was to allow RAs access to your room under certain circumstances.

Also NAL, but if it’s a state university, an argument could be made that as an employee of the university the RA is an agent of the state. Not a very good argument, I freely admit, but an argument nonetheless.

But hey, it’s just a meeting with your hall monitor (or whatever). Who cares? Go, look contrite and then make fun of him over the next round of beers.

Is this not unlike a renter/landlord thing? Doesn’t the landlord or his representative, have the right to come into his property at anytime as long as the renter is there?

WTF? Where the hell do you go to school? Our only rule is that they can’t stay over more than three nights in a row.:slight_smile:

Our rule states any student (male or female) can have any guest (again, male or female) over for as long as they want. A byproduct of co-ed dorms I guess.

(Actually I have a plan about this. I won’t sign up for a room next year, live in my friend’s single and we both pay half rent. Perfect.)

Fourth Amendment, Schmourth Amendment.
How old are you? 18 or over? How old was the girl? Over 18?
What’s the friggin’ issue?

Maybe I just went to a liberal college, but in my day, if any RA would have asked me if I had a girl in my room, my response would have been, “Yes, so piss off, I’m busy, huh?”

I’m not sure what your college’s policy is regarding your right to privacy and, with all due respect, apparently neither do you. You might want to look it up before your big meeting.

This isn’t a Fourth Amendment issue in any event. Your right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures applies only to government action and more particularly it applies in the criminal context.