Question

case study practice - state v. ham
who has valid consent? andrew ham was 19 and lived with his mother in a two - bedroom apartment. in february, andrew entered into an informal agreement with his mother to pay rent for his bedroom, which he shared with a younger brother. he paid the rent for february and march, but failed to pay rent in april. since he did not pay the rent, mrs. ham told andrew that he would have to move out. prior to moving out, the police began to investigate andrew in connection with a burglary. the police went to the hams apartment and asked mrs. ham whether they could search andrews bedroom, even though the police did not have a warrant to perform the search. mrs. ham consented. while searching the bedroom, the police found the stolen property in andrews closet.
practice: can andrews mother provide consent to the police to search andrews room? does it make a difference whether andrew paid rent to his mother?
ethics application
responsible party: you have been invited to a friday night party with a group of your friends. your family says it is okay for you to go as long as there is adult supervision and no underage drinking. when you arrive, you see that there are no adults present and a lot of the partygoers are drinking alcohol.
do you call your family to let them know what is happening at the party?
think back to the legal briefs feature you read at the beginning of the chapter. then ponder this scenario and write one or more paragraphs to answer these questions: a young woman is arrested for misdemeanor possession of marijuana. the charges are dropped when she attends a drug abuse education course. years later, when she applies for a job as a teacher, the event resurfaces. should the records have been available? should they make a difference in her employment? what if she were applying to be a sales clerk?

Explanation:

1. In the case of Andrew, since he was 19 and had an informal rent - paying agreement for his bedroom, he had a reasonable expectation of privacy. His mother may not have had the legal right to consent to the search of his room as he was an adult and had a tenancy - like relationship for his part of the apartment. Whether he paid rent or not is relevant as it indicates his independent stake in the property.
2. Regarding the party situation, it is ethical to call your family as you had an agreement based on adult supervision and no underage drinking.
3. For the woman's case, the availability of records depends on laws regarding expungement and sealing of records. For a teaching job, a past drug - related incident might be more of a concern due to the high level of trust required, while for a sales clerk job, it may be less so.

Answer:

1. Andrew's mother likely could not provide valid consent to search his room, and rent - payment is relevant.
2. You should call your family.
3. Record availability depends on laws; it may matter more for a teaching job than a sales clerk job.