Stepping out of the Vehicle: The Potential of Arizona v. Gant to End Automatic Searches Incident to Arrest beyond the Vehicular Context

“Because the law says we can do it” was the response Officer Griffith offered when asked why officers searched Rodney Gant’s car when he was arrested for driving with a suspended license. Officer Griffith’s honest answer exemplifies the effect of prior Supreme Court decisions on search incident to arrest power in the vehicle context: that a vehicle search incident to arrest is a police entitlement divorced from any rationale whatsoever. Concerns for officer safety and preservation of evidence -- legal justifications that generally permit warrantless searches incident to arrest generally -- had been utterly abandoned by the Court in the automobile context. This police entitlement led to invasions of privacy against persons guilty of no more than mere traffic violations, as searches were conducted simply because they were legally permissible. However, the Supreme Court in Arizona v. Gant shifted course and strengthened Fourth Amendment protections by terminating the entitlement that permitted vehicle searches incident to arrest as a matter of right. The tumultuous jurisprudence of the search incident to arrest doctrine under the Fourth Amendment has often produced inconsistent and varied results. In keeping with this tradition, the Supreme Court in Gant revised nearly thirty years of search incident to arrest law in the automobile context. Unlike Gant’s predecessors, Gant generally enhanced Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches by holding that automatic vehicle searches incident to arrest are unconstitutional. On the other hand, Gant’s second holding created a new warrant exception to govern searches of automobiles incident to arrest by allowing officers to search a vehicle, even when the justifications of officer safety and preservation of evidence are nonexistent. The author argues that Gant not only enhances Fourth Amendment protections overall by limiting authority to search an automobile upon arrest, but that its first holding also undermines other cases permitting automatic searches incident to arrest in non-vehicular situations. Gant’s affirmation of two specific rationales that permit a search incident to arrest, officer safety and the preservation of evidence, directly conflicts with non-vehicular cases that allow automatic searches irrespective of these rationales. Since Gant undermines such cases by reconnecting the search incident to arrest exception with its justifications, applying Gant to cases that permit automatic searches of containers on the person, and certain automatic home searches incident to arrest, serves to enhance privacy protections against these non-vehicular searches that have become police entitlements. Part I outlines the judicial origin of search incident to arrest law and its schizophrenic history, exposes the fundamental conflict between the cases, and discuss the legal rules and reasoning of Gant. Part II argues that the standard governing Gant’s second holding is vague, and is concerned with whether the crime of arrest involves tangible evidence rather than a quantum of proof analysis prevalent in standards such as probable cause and reasonable suspicion. Part III analyzes the effect of applying Gant’s first holding to an automatic search of containers on the person incident to arrest, while Part IV applies Gant to certain automatic home searches incident to arrest. Part IV also addresses some Counterarguments and potential pitfalls. This Comment concludes that Gant’s retraction of the search incident to arrest power may serve to end, or at the least severely undermine, automatic searches of containers on the person and homes incident to arrest

Stepping out of the Vehicle: The Potential of Arizona v. Gant to End Automatic Searches Incident to Arrest beyond the Vehicular Context

“Because the law says we can do it” was the response Officer Griffith offered when asked why officers searched Rodney Gant’s car when he was arrested for driving with a suspended license. Officer Griffith’s honest answer exemplifies the effect of prior Supreme Court decisions on search incident to arrest power in the vehicle context: that a vehicle search incident to arrest is a police entitlement divorced from any rationale whatsoever. Concerns for officer safety and preservation of evidence -- legal justifications that generally permit warrantless searches incident to arrest generally -- had been utterly abandoned by the Court in the automobile context. This police entitlement led to invasions of privacy against persons guilty of no more than mere traffic violations, as searches were conducted simply because they were legally permissible. However, the Supreme Court in Arizona v. Gant shifted course and strengthened Fourth Amendment protections by terminating the entitlement that permitted vehicle searches incident to arrest as a matter of right. The tumultuous jurisprudence of the search incident to arrest doctrine under the Fourth Amendment has often produced inconsistent and varied results. In keeping with this tradition, the Supreme Court in Gant revised nearly thirty years of search incident to arrest law in the automobile context. Unlike Gant’s predecessors, Gant generally enhanced Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches by holding that automatic vehicle searches incident to arrest are unconstitutional. On the other hand, Gant’s second holding created a new warrant exception to govern searches of automobiles incident to arrest by allowing officers to search a vehicle, even when the justifications of officer safety and preservation of evidence are nonexistent. The author argues that Gant not only enhances Fourth Amendment protections overall by limiting authority to search an automobile upon arrest, but that its first holding also undermines other cases permitting automatic searches incident to arrest in non-vehicular situations. Gant’s affirmation of two specific rationales that permit a search incident to arrest, officer safety and the preservation of evidence, directly conflicts with non-vehicular cases that allow automatic searches irrespective of these rationales. Since Gant undermines such cases by reconnecting the search incident to arrest exception with its justifications, applying Gant to cases that permit automatic searches of containers on the person, and certain automatic home searches incident to arrest, serves to enhance privacy protections against these non-vehicular searches that have become police entitlements. Part I outlines the judicial origin of search incident to arrest law and its schizophrenic history, exposes the fundamental conflict between the cases, and discuss the legal rules and reasoning of Gant. Part II argues that the standard governing Gant’s second holding is vague, and is concerned with whether the crime of arrest involves tangible evidence rather than a quantum of proof analysis prevalent in standards such as probable cause and reasonable suspicion. Part III analyzes the effect of applying Gant’s first holding to an automatic search of containers on the person incident to arrest, while Part IV applies Gant to certain automatic home searches incident to arrest. Part IV also addresses some Counterarguments and potential pitfalls. This Comment concludes that Gant’s retraction of the search incident to arrest power may serve to end, or at the least severely undermine, automatic searches of containers on the person and homes incident to arrest

Dental caries in the laboratory: developing a standard testing method for future research in caries prevention

Dental caries has affected humans for millions of years and even today is present in a large portion of the world’s population. There are several factors that can cause tooth decay, but one of the main reasons is sugar consumption. As bacteria inside our oral cavity break down the carbohydrates and sugars we eat, they produce acid that seeps into the grooves and pits of our teeth and cause demineralization of the enamel. Subsequently, the enamel structure and composition is compromised and if left untreated for long enough, caries develop and can affect the dentin and pulpal layers, which contain the nerves and blood vessels, underneath the enamel. Dentists restore dental caries by removing the decayed portions and filling the cavity with amalgam or composite material to mimic the dental anatomy that was present before. Fortunately, caries can be prevented with regular oral hygiene such as brushing and flossing as well as sealants, especially in children, that can prevent pit and fissure caries in the molars. Additionally, saliva acts as a pH buffer in our mouths to reduce the acidity caused by the bacteria and the fluoride in our drinking water and toothpastes assists in the remineralization process. With all the factors involved in dental caries, research is important in broadening our knowledge of the disease. In order to conduct a study on caries, a researcher can choose to create a caries simulation model in a laboratory setting or use patients in a clinic setting. Each method has advantages and disadvantages. Choosing a model can also depend on the research question, budget, or time. The simplest model is the in vitro chemical demineralization model, in which researchers place teeth or slides of enamel or dentin into an acidic gel or solution for a specific time period before measuring the amount of demineralization that has occurred. The advantages of this model are that it is inexpensive, easily reproducible, and studies can be completed within a reasonably short time frame. The in vitro bacterial biofilm model uses several different species of bacteria that are commonly found during biofilm formation process in order to generate the type of acid that would be present in the oral environment. Although the biological in vitro model is more clinically relevant than the chemical in vitro model, one of its main disadvantages is that unlike the chemical in vitro model, there is no way for remineralization to occur because the biofilm cannot be removed and reapplied periodically. In vivo studies are typically conducted on teeth in living patients and are usually the last step used in product testing. In situ studies offer scientists a compromise between in vitro and in vivo studies in regards to its cost, duration, and clinical relevance. In this type of study, patients wear a dental appliance that contains test samples for a predetermined amount of time. The benefit of this design is that researchers have access to an active oral microcosm present in the oral cavity. Typically, clinical trials are carried out after extensive experimentation in the laboratory. In situ studies offer a middle ground between bench and clinical research models. The purpose of this study was to explore the existing models used for caries simulation and determine whether a standardized model can be developed that can be used for future research on dental caries. After reviewing the literature, there was no conclusive evidence that any one model would suffice for all types of experiments. Researchers should continue to use the most appropriate model for their particular study with the in situ model offering a compromise between in vitro and in vivo models

Candidate Sequence Variants for Polyautoimmunity and Multiple Autoimmune Syndrome from a Colombian Genetic Isolate: Implications for Population Genetics

Autoimmunity is an immunological disorder whereby patients have lost immunological tolerance to self-antigen. It has extreme financial and socioeconomic burden with costs of over 100 billion dollars in the USA alone, and an estimated prevalence of 9.4%, and evidence indicates that this estimate has increased at a rate of 5% per year for the past 3 years. These phenotypes can be manifested in more severe forms through polyautoimmunity, whereby patients are carrying 2 or more autoimmune conditions. In addition to that, there is also the most extreme phenotype of autoimmunity known as the Multiple Autoimmune Syndrome (MAS), consisting of cases where patients have 3 or more autoimmune diseases. These extreme phenotypes are extremely important for genetic research as will be elaborated upon in this thesis. For more than 20 years, pedigrees from the world’s largest known genetic isolate, from the Paisa region of Colombia have been ascertained and thoroughly followed by Dr. Juan-Manuel Anaya and Dr. Mauricio Arcos-Burgos. This population has maintained its status as a genetic isolate since the 16th century, during the early colonization by the Spanish Conquistadors. In this thesis, our attempts in identifying potential candidate variants potentially underpinning the genetic etiology of autoimmune conditions in this population is facilitated by the fact that families are derived from individuals carrying extreme phenotypes, from familial cohorts where genetic homogeneity is maximized. Candidates are identified in both sporadic as well as familial cases. This is primarily achieved through combination of linkage analysis and association tests for both rare and common variants, derived from variant-calling pipelines and that had undergone quality control, filtering and functional annotation, via bioinformatic anlayses. Genes harbouring variants with significant evidence of linkage and association were primarily involved in negative regulation of apoptosis, phagocytosis, regulation of endopeptidase activity, response to lipopolysaccharides and plasminogen urokinase receptor activity. These findings, that were obtained by utilizing the combinations of statistical as well as network-based analyses have relevant potential implications in autoimmunity, and can be further supported with additional studies

A study of organic Rankine cycle systems with the expansion process performed by twin screw machines

The prediction of the performance of energy systems that recover power from low grade heat is one of the most important requirements for reducing their investment cost and optimising system efficiency. The aim of this work was to study, model and analyse an Organic Rankine cycle (ORC) system using a twin screw expander to generate the power output, with HFC-245fa, as the working fluid. A software package (Power Plant Performance Prediction Program), simulating ORC system performance was therefore prepared for this purpose. Major components were represented by proper units and relations between the system’s constituents defined. The preferred analytical procedure depends on both the system complexity and the requirements of the study. In this case, the whole cycle was simulated in order to obtain a good understanding of its behaviour with the aim of estimating its optimum operating conditions. The procedure adopted was to start from a basic case and then improve it, in a realistic way, in order to evaluate the system potential. Performance indicators, like thermal efficiency, specific net output, total UA and surface of the heat exchangers, as well as the relative cost of the system all need to be taken into account but it is impossible to optimise all of them simultaneously. The design value for these parameters is therefore a matter of choice, or compromise. Efficiencies of ORC systems were calculated based on the assumption that the working fluid entered the expander as wet vapour. For the heat source and sink conditions chosen for this study, the overall cycle efficiency was estimated as approximately 6% using R245fa. This and the power output are highly dependent on the ambient air temperature when using air-cooled condensers. Allowing for a small degree of subcooling at the condenser exit, it is shown that the heat recovery should be maximised

A systematic literature review on insider threats

Insider threats is the most concerned cybersecurity problem which is poorly addressed by widely used security solutions. Despite the fact that there have been several scientific publications in this area, but from our innovative study classification and structural taxonomy proposals, we argue to provide the more information about insider threats and defense measures used to counter them. While adopting the current grounded theory method for a thorough literature evaluation, our categorization's goal is to organize knowledge in insider threat research. Along with an analysis of major recent studies on detecting insider threats, the major goal of the study is to develop a classification of current types of insiders, levels of access, motivations behind it, insider profiling, security properties, and methods they use to attack. This includes use of machine learning algorithm, behavior analysis, methods of detection and evaluation. Moreover, actual incidents related to insider attacks have also been analyzed