cannabisnews.com: Fourth Amendment Still Applies 





Fourth Amendment Still Applies 
Posted by FoM on August 13, 2001 at 09:34:35 PT
Editorial
Source: Daily Herald 
When the Constitution's Fourth Amendment was created, the only tools law enforcement had for searching a person and his property were their hands and eyes. Today, technology has given law enforcement tools that James Madison and the other great minds that crafted the Bill of Rights couldn't even conceive of, yet the principles espoused in that great document need to be adhered to now more than ever. A few of these technological advances have drawn the ire of civil libertarians, privacy advocates and conservatives. 
The U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled that thermal imaging devices cannot be used to determine if someone is growing marijuana in his home unless police have a search warrant. The decision stemmed from a case in which a man was arrested on drug charges after police, using a thermal camera, detected heat patterns from his house suggesting a drug farm.The high court rightfully ruled that using a device capable of seeing through walls didn't fall under the rule that lets police conduct a warrantless search if the evidence of wrongdoing is in plain sight. Heat may escape a house, but it requires special equipment to see it, so it is not really a "plain view" issue.Some may see that as a pro-drug ruling or another case of the court handcuffing cops who are trying to do their jobs. But this is a matter of making sure police are using the tools of their trade the right way.A law enforcement body that can monitor people in their homes is something you'd find in totalitarian regimes or George Orwell's "1984," not in the United States.If a police officer has the need to search someone's home, he should go before a judge and convince the court that there is sufficient evidence of wrongdoing before he employs surveillance devices or kicks down the front door.Other technologies that need careful watching in this area are the "Carnivore" system and facial recognition software.Carnivore is capable of intercepting e-mail messages on the Internet based on certain criteria, such as who is sending or receiving the message. It is a high-tech version of intercepting mail or wiretapping.With the Internet the new medium for personal and commercial communication, it is frightening to think the government can break in on private communications.Congress is already looking into the matter, and we think it should make it perfectly clear to the FBI that the rules of obtaining a court order after demonstrating probable cause apply, and any deviation will not be tolerated.Facial recognition software takes a picture of a face and compares certain key features with those in a database. It was used during the Super Bowl to look for criminals, and at least one community is planning on using it to scan streets and public areas.This one's a bit more challenging in the area of civil liberties.People give up some privacy when they go to public venues. For example, if you go to a football game at LaVell Edwards Stadium, you can't cry invasion of privacy if you get on TV; there's little room for privacy at a sporting event open to the general public and you're one of 65,000 people in attendance.Same thing when you're on a public street or in your front yard, in plain view of whoever passes by.But it would be another thing if police were to set up a camera in a hall where a private party was being held just to see who was there. Again, police would need to convince a judge that there was sufficient evidence of criminal activity before invading private space.While we want police to utilize the latest technology to catch criminals, we want them also to follow the timeless principles in the Fourth Amendment that protect the innocent from a tyrannical government.Members of The Daily Herald editorial board are Publisher Kirk Parkinson, Managing Editor Mike Fitzgerald, Opinions Page Editor Donald W. Meyers, Community Editor Sharon Gholdston, and Lehi residents Richard W. Smith and Chad Spence.This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page A6. Source: Daily Herald, The (UT)Published: Monday, August 13, 2001Copyright: 2001 The Daily HeraldContact: ldean heraldextra.comWebsite: http://www.harktheherald.com/Related Articles:Authorities Use More High-Tech Gadgetshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread10442.shtmlFBI Using Net-Snooping Systems Against Criminalshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread9603.shtmlCannabisNews Articles - Kyllohttp://cannabisnews.com/thcgi/search.pl?K=Kyllo
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Comment #2 posted by dddd on August 14, 2001 at 00:35:26 PT
I beg to differ
Saying the fourth amendment,"still applies",,is about thesame as thinking "no taxation without representation"....The fourth amendment has already been trashed.Under thedrug war,it has been compromised,altered,and effectivelyneutralized,,,and the worst part,is that very few people seemto know,or care. The Supreme Courts decision on thermal imaging is like saying you cant kill someone who is already dead.Where was the SupremeCourt when it somehow became legal to bash down someones door?No,,the fourth amendment has been diluted to the point where it isalmost useless!dddd
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Comment #1 posted by S.M.Ash on August 13, 2001 at 12:30:55 PT:
Big Brother
Leader of the House of Represenatives, Dick Armey has been fighting the use of Cameras at intersections, for the use of catching people who run red lights. I read somewhere that places where those cameras were installed, they "Shortened" the caution signal so as to catch more offenders, thus increasing their revenues. In Spain in 1973 there were stationary mounted "Radar-Cameras" along the Main Drag & every so often it would take a picture of the face of the driver along with license plate, across the bottom it stated your speed in what zone & you're busted. Some times you'd blow by & never see the camera, nothing, next thing you know you get a ticket in the mail from the Police. 
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