The Alaska Supreme Court says that Alaska State Troopers can’t use high-powered surveillance equipment to conduct surveillance of property without cause.
The case involved John William McKelvey, who in 2012 had a marijuana growing operation north of Fairbanks. Based on a tip, Troopers flew over the property and took photos with a telephoto lens, which captured images of some unknown plants growing. With that, they got a search warrant and were able to validate their suspicions.
The court ruled on Friday that the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and the Alaska Constitution have strong guarantees to the right of privacy and freedom from unreasonable searches.
“Do the police have to get a warrant before taking pictures of your yard with a zoom lens while flying in an airplane? The State argues that because small airplane travel is so common in Alaska, and because any passenger might peer into your yard and snap a picture of you, law enforcement officials may do the same. We disagree. The Alaska Constitution protects the right to be free of unreasonable searches. The fact that a random person might catch a glimpse of your yard while flying from one place to another does not make it reasonable or law enforcement officials to take to the skies and train high-powered optics on the private space right outside your home without a warrant. Unregulated aerial surveillance of the home with high-powered optics is the kind of police practice that is ‘inconsistent with the aims of a free and open society.’ The Alaska Constitution does not allow it,” the court wrote.
From now on, law enforcement aerial surveillance in Alaska must get a warrant prior to taking pictures of private property from the sky. The ruling is embedded here:
