Charon,
You are starting to get into the realm of "what if" here. It's hard if not impossible to answer what you have posed as it is simply too general. You need to get more specific in the circumstances.
As far as a school is concerned, or work place either for that matter. You do NOT have full 4th amendment rights. You are not in a residential property agreement with the owner. In other words it's not your place, it's the schools or employers place and they have the right to consent to a search or the property including your locker, desk, cubical, company owned equipment and so on. If it is not specifically your person (and the Police can search you for weapons even there) or obviously private papers like your wallet, it's available for search. If the property owner has it noted that all bags etc. are subject to search on their property you have a choice, comply, leave your bags etc. home or be denied entry on the grounds.
You also do not have 1st amendment rights on property that is not public (owned by the "people") or belongs to another entity, be it individual or corporate. If you sound off and the "speech" is not approved of by the property owner you can be removed from it provided you do not have a lease agreement for the property. Property and lessee / lessor situations depend on the agreement and conditions for the use. Residential vs other uses. To get into that area you really need to talk to an attorney and again be in a specific situation rather than "what if".
In a situation like this bbs, you have No rights. It's not your server or service. You are a "guest" here and your presence and posting privileges can be revoked without cause or recourse save the pity of the folks who moderate it. Ask beetle.
As far as "signing your rights away" is concerned, don't think it has to be a signed contract in all cases. The above examples are not necessarily ones where the person signed any document releasing anything. If you do not "own" the rights in those locations to begin with you can't be able to "sign them away".
Jackal1,
Given the importance of getting a good warrant, one that will survive court scrutiny later on, I'd say that the percentage is pretty darn high. I don't know if anyone really keeps any stats on it however. If the judge does not feel there is sufficient reason to issue the warrant there won't be paperwork on it.
Any warrant and ANYTHING found in the execution of the warrant are subject to court scrutiny. If the warrant is lost in court, EVERYTHING found using it is gone as well. That's enough justification to make sure you have your ducks in a row before trying to get one. If you gain evidence to convict in a warrant but the execution or warrant was flawed, the evidence goes away. The warrant has to be specific as to what is being searched and to a lesser degree what is being sought. In other words, if you are searching for a stolen car in a garage, you can't search the bedroom closet or dressers of the house on the property.
Originally posted by Charon
True. But if I understand correctly from the Circuit City thread there is not a lot HTC personnel could do about it personally. To infringe my rights I would have to have signed away those rights or be dealing formally with the legal justice system and warrants, etc. I know when you live in a dorm you sign away rights to searches etc. on their property and in some jobs you consent to searches and other infringements as part of your employment contract. But, don't those infringements have to be specified and agreed to before hand?
Charon
