Kansas law enforcement authorities taped a man’s door 15 hours a day for 68 days and obtained evidence incriminating him on 16 charges.officials did not search warrant, filming Bruce Hay’s home using a camera on a pole across the street.federal court Ruling on Tuesday It’s okay for law enforcement to do this and it could be a major incident less privacy law.
“Mr. U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, in its decision About Team USA vs. Hay. “Unfortunately, as cameras become more ubiquitous in society, reasonable expectations for privacy in filming are diminishing.”
Hay, a veteran, was convicted of lying about his disability to receive benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). A troubling part of the case, however, stems from how Veterans Administration officials gathered evidence against Hay. The veteran appealed his case, arguing that the months-long surveillance of his family crossed a line. However, a federal court has ruled that law enforcement can videotape what’s going on outside your home, in part because cameras are becoming more important in society.
The federal court ruling stated Cameras are “everywhere” thus lowering our privacy expectations.Nowadays, police officers all wear cameras, and mobile phones also have cameras. Many Doorbell records your porch. Cameras are everywhere and the courts are not wrong.
However, law enforcement has long used modern recording technology to blur the lines of privacy. Politico It details how Lam handed over a full day’s worth of camera footage against a man’s will in a bid to convict his neighbor.Law enforcement has also used Ring camera networks for years Videos of criminals can be obtained without a warrant.
Intrusive searches of private property typically require law enforcement to obtain a search warrant. In this case, VA officials received information that Hay was not actually disabled, so they continued to document his home without obtaining a search warrant. The court found that there was no problem because anyone passing by Hay’s home could see what the camera saw.
However, most people who pass by your home won’t sit there for two months straight. Documenting the outside of your home for months on end can paint a very intimate picture of your life. Hay argued that this allowed law enforcement to learn about his habits and learn when he came in and out of his home and who entered his home.
United States v. Hay set a precedent for how law enforcement uses cameras. It clearly defines what federal agents can record and what is considered a “reasonable expectation of privacy.” According to this case, the front of your home is not private at all.