This three-day professional development seminar invites educators to deepen their understanding of the Fourth Amendment and its enduring role in shaping Americans’ right to privacy. The program begins with a content-rich lecture from Constitutional scholar Professor Bruce Murphy of Lafayette College who will provide historical context for the amendment’s origins, explore its evolving interpretation, and highlight the tension between individual liberties and government authority.
Educators will then engage in facilitated, primary source–based discussions of landmark Supreme Court decisions that continue to define Fourth Amendment jurisprudence. Cases such as Mapp v. Ohio (1961), which established the exclusionary rule; Katz v. United States (1967), which broadened the concept of privacy beyond physical spaces; and New Jersey v. T.L.O. (1985), which addressed search and seizure in schools, will serve as focal points for examining the intersection of law, civil liberties, and educational settings.
In addition to these historic, precedent-creating cases, teachers will explore how fourth amendment privacy rights are being debated, particularly with regards to technology, including the use of AI, and national security concerns. Such decisions as the 2014 Riley V. California case and the 2018 Carpenter v US case as well as ongoing litigation regarding surveillance and data privacy will be examined.
The seminar’s experiential component will take participants to Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site in Philadelphia, where the physical environment of incarceration provides a powerful lens for exploring constitutional rights in practice. Through a guided field study, educators will consider how institutions of punishment reflect societal understandings of privacy, surveillance, and state power.
By combining scholarly expertise, document-based inquiry, and immersive field experience, this professional development opportunity equips teachers with content knowledge, pedagogical strategies, and historical perspective to bring the complexities of the Fourth Amendment into their classrooms.
Please note: For the field study day, participants should be prepared to walk significant distances, including up to one mile at a time, as part of the program. Some historic sites and other locations included in the itinerary may not be fully ADA compliant due to the age of the buildings and may lack elevators or other accessibility features.
Speaker:
Dr. Bruce Murphy
Bruce Murphy is the Fred Morgan Kirby Professor of Civil Rights at Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania. He received his B.A. from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and his Ph.D. in Government from the University of Virginia. His areas of research and teaching include Civil Rights and Liberties, the Supreme Court, American Government, and biographical writing.His published books include: The Brandeis – Frankfurter Connection: The Secret Political Activities of Two Supreme Court Justices (1982), Fortas: The Rise and Ruin of a Supreme Court Justice (1988), which was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, an American Government textbook entitled, Approaching Democracy (co-written with Larry Berman of the University of California, Washington Center), now in its 8th edition. His judicial biography, Wild Bill: The Legend and Life of William O. Douglas, was published in early 2003. His most recent book, Scalia: A Court of One, was published in 2014.
John Yoo
John Yoo is the Emanuel Heller Professor of Law and University of California Berkeley School of Law. He is also Distinguished Visiting Scholar, School of Civic Leadership and Senior Research Fellow, Civitas Institute, at the University of Texas at Austin. He is a Senior Fellow at Founding Forward and also a Nonresident Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. His most recent book, The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Supreme Court, co-authored with Robert Delahunty, was published in 2023; he has published more than a dozen books on topics like the US Constitution, presidential power, national security, foreign affairs, and more with 100+ articles in academic journals. He is a regular contributor to the pages of National Review, appears regularly on multiple podcasts including Law Talk with Richard Epstein hosted by Charl.es C. W. Cooke. Professor Yoo has served in all three branches of government. He was an official in the U.S. Department of Justice, where he worked on national security and terrorism issues after the 9/11 attacks. He served as general counsel of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee. He has been a law clerk for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and federal appeals Judge Laurence Silberman. He has been a visiting professor at Seoul National University in South Korea, the Interdisciplinary Center in Israel, Keio University in Japan, Trento University in Italy, the University of Chicago, and the Free University of Amsterdam.
The three-day (Friday – Sunday) seminar is a new category of PD program for Founding Forward held through-out the year. Each summit will include historic interpreters, a content-lecture from a scholarly expert, a faculty-led discussion of relevant primary sources, and an appropriate field study of historic sites, archives, and museums.
Founding Forward’s work and mission is made possible through voluntary contributions. We need your support to ensure a future rooted in liberty. Please join our efforts to uphold our democratic system of government with your tax-deductible contribution.
