USPS worker had no REP in his lunch bag while at work

A USPS worker had no reasonable expectation of privacy in his lunch bag while on postal service property at work. The issue arose in the context of a race and age discrimination case. The Ninth Circuit held 31 years ago that a USPS worker had no REP in his locker at work. Zachary v. Potter, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 74205 (D. Haw. October 4, 2006):

Additionally, Zachary claims that the search of his lunch bag on December 18, 2003 violated his Fourth Amendment right to privacy. This claim also fails because even if Zachary had a subjective expectation of privacy in his lunch bag, such expectation was not reasonable. The USPS Rules and Regulations Governing Conduct on Postal Property state that “[p]urses, briefcases, and other containers brought into, while on, or being removed from the property are subject to inspection.” (Defs.’ Ex. B.) Moreover, even where a USPS employee had a subjective expectation of privacy in her locker, this expectation was not reasonable. United States v. Bunkers, 521 F.2d 1217 (9th Cir. 1975). Thus, the search of Zachary’s lunch bag did not violate the Fourth Amendment.

In a DUI case, the police came back to the hospital and obtained the defendant’s blood from the hospital without a search warrant. The defendant argued that she had a reasonable expectation of privacy in the blood sample. The court was able to dodge the question by deciding that the error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. State v. Wall, 154 N.H. 237, 910 A.2d 1253 (2006).*

Seizure of animals not being fed or cared for, specifically provided for by NY statute, implicated the Fourth Amendment, but it was reasonable under the circumstances. Gilfus v. Vargason, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 74037 (N.D. N.Y. September 30, 2006).*

Traffic stop was based on PC, and the detention thereafter was reasonable. While the record is not crystal clear on the events and the time logs from various sources seem somewhat off, the court finds that the detention could not have lasted so long it was unreasonable. United States v. Hogsett, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 73964 (S.D. Ill. October 11, 2006).*

Motion to suppress statements made on the eve of trial which the government mooted by agreeing not to use, and did not use, mooted the argument for appeal, too. United States v. Howell, 199 Fed. Appx. 697 (10th Cir. October 10, 2006)* (unpublished).