SLAP AT SNOOPING

High Court Holds High-Tech Police To Old Standard For Illegal Searches

There's no debating that advancements in technology have opened up new
frontiers in surveillance for law enforcement. But advancements in law
ensuring the protection of Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable
searches and seizures have not kept pace.

The U.S. Supreme Court set those needed boundaries Monday when it ruled
police must obtain a search warrant before using high-tech equipment in
its snooping.

The 5-4 ruling concerned an Oregon case in which federal officers used
thermal imaging equipment to detect marijuana-growing equipment in a
Florence home. The officers then obtained a warrant to search the home
where they confiscated more than 100 marijuana plants.

In finding that police violated the defendant's Fourth Amendment rights
in this case, the majority applied some old wisdom to a new-age dilemma.
If officers would otherwise have to enter the home to obtain the
information available through the use of high-tech devices, then a
warrant is needed.

In writing for the majority, Justice Antonin Scalia wrote that to not
require a warrant "would leave the homeowner at the mercy of advancing
technology -- including imaging technology that could discern all human
activity in the home."

Well said. When police are capable of conducting a search without ever
opening a door, abuse is inevitable. Score this one a victory for
privacy.