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Today on @Forbes, I wrote about @IJ's newest #propertyrights case. It's about whether the government can set up surveillance cameras on private, rural land without warrants: https://www.forbes.com/sites/instituteforjustice/2020/04/14/is-your-land-really-yours-if-the-government-can-watch-you-whenever-it-wants/#30fa35432ac9
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This is Terry Rainwaters. He farms 136 acres along the Big Sandy River in Tennessee. He and his son also hunt on this land. This is the main gate to his fields.
This is Terry Rainwaters. He farms 136 acres along the Big Sandy River in Tennessee. He and his son also hunt on this land. This is the main gate to his fields.
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Private property, right? But in 2017 Terry found two cameras placed just a few hundred feet up the road. One camera was pointed at the back of a house he rents to a long-time tenant.
Private property, right? But in 2017 Terry found two cameras placed just a few hundred feet up the road. One camera was pointed at the back of a house he rents to a long-time tenant.
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Terry didn't mess with the cameras, and a few days later they were gone. He knew they had been placed by a local game warden because he is far from the only landowner in the area to find cameras. Hunter Hollingsworth points to the tree where he found a camera on his farm.
Terry didn't mess with the cameras, and a few days later they were gone. He knew they had been placed by a local game warden because he is far from the only landowner in the area to find cameras. Hunter Hollingsworth points to the tree where he found a camera on his farm.
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The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency doesn't think it needs warrants to run surveillance on private rural land. In fact, one officer told Hunter: “When you bought your hunting license you invited me.”
The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency doesn't think it needs warrants to run surveillance on private rural land. In fact, one officer told Hunter: “When you bought your hunting license you invited me.”
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TWRA says they have the right to conduct invasive, warrantless searches because of a nearly century old judicial doctrine known as "open fields." In a 1924 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court narrowly read the protections of the 4th Amdt.
TWRA says they have the right to conduct invasive, warrantless searches because of a nearly century old judicial doctrine known as "open fields." In a 1924 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court narrowly read the protections of the 4th Amdt.
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The 4th Amdt specifically mentions “persons, houses, papers, and effects,” and the Court decided that meant that the protection against searches ended at the area immediately around your house, the so-called “curtilage.”
The 4th Amdt specifically mentions “persons, houses, papers, and effects,” and the Court decided that meant that the protection against searches ended at the area immediately around your house, the so-called “curtilage.”
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The doctrine is certainly a product of a time before easy and cheap surveillance cameras. Today, high definition trap cameras are as low as $50 bucks: https://www.dickssportinggoods.com/p/wildgame-innovations-terra-extreme-trail-camera-14-mp-19wgiutrrxtrm14mptch/19wgiutrrxtrm14mptch?sku=19937317&camp=CSE:DSG_92700040953257179_pla_pla-504951715626&gclid=CjwKCAjwvtX0BRAFEiwAGWJyZJD65sX2e6AILRt989zOvlOe-RZqn2OdgYn_FYu8OuzWgM_PcnhgNRoCgpkQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
The doctrine is certainly a product of a time before easy and cheap surveillance cameras. Today, high definition trap cameras are as low as $50 bucks: https://www.dickssportinggoods.com/p/wildgame-innovations-terra-extreme-trail-camera-14-mp-19wgiutrrxtrm14mptch/19wgiutrrxtrm14mptch?sku=19937317&camp=CSE:DSG_92700040953257179_pla_pla-504951715626&gclid=CjwKCAjwvtX0BRAFEiwAGWJyZJD65sX2e6AILRt989zOvlOe-RZqn2OdgYn_FYu8OuzWgM_PcnhgNRoCgpkQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
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Agents wouldn't be allowed to pitch a tent on your land and watch you with a telephoto lense all day and night, but that is essentially what cameras allow them to do.
Agents wouldn't be allowed to pitch a tent on your land and watch you with a telephoto lense all day and night, but that is essentially what cameras allow them to do.
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Fortunately for Terry and Hunter, Tennessee's constitution may provide them protection from warrantless snooping. The TN Supreme Court held that the state constitution’s protection of people’s “possessions” includes any property that is “actually possessed or occupied.”
Fortunately for Terry and Hunter, Tennessee's constitution may provide them protection from warrantless snooping. The TN Supreme Court held that the state constitution’s protection of people’s “possessions” includes any property that is “actually possessed or occupied.”
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That's why Terry and Hunter have sued the TWRA in a Tennessee court. “No trespassing” signs apply to the government too, otherwise the notion of private property is meaningless. https://ij.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Tennessee-Open-Fields-Complaint-Final.pdf
That's why Terry and Hunter have sued the TWRA in a Tennessee court. “No trespassing” signs apply to the government too, otherwise the notion of private property is meaningless. https://ij.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Tennessee-Open-Fields-Complaint-Final.pdf
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And perhaps it is time for the U.S. Supreme Court to reconsider a doctrine that gives federal agent wide latitude to snoop on Americans going about their business on their own land.
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And perhaps it is time for the U.S. Supreme Court to reconsider a doctrine that gives federal agent wide latitude to snoop on Americans going about their business on their own land.
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/Addendum
If you want to dig deeper into the Volunteer State's constitution, check out this thread from @IJSanders #50Weeks50Constitutions: https://twitter.com/IJSanders/status/1206954228922699777
If you want to dig deeper into the Volunteer State's constitution, check out this thread from @IJSanders #50Weeks50Constitutions: https://twitter.com/IJSanders/status/1206954228922699777
