Law enforcement must have warrant to use aircraft and zoom lenses to surveil: Alaska Supreme Court

Alaska’s Supreme Court ruled on Friday that in order for law enforcement to be able to use cameras with zoom lenses or aircraft and binoculars to surveil areas around homes, they must first get a warrant.

The ruling goes back to a case from 2012, when Alaska State Troopers got a tip that John William McKelvey III was growing marijuana on his property north of Fairbanks, according to The Associated Press.

Because his property was heavily wooded, the troopers were unable to get a clear look at what was there, which included a house and a greenhouse, and a gate kept cars from driving onto the property.

The troopers who followed up on the tip flew close enough to McKelvey’s property to use a camera with a high-power zoom lens to take photos of the greenhouse, from which they could view buckets with “unidentifiable plants” in them, according to The Hill. 

Based on the tip and the photos they took, the troopers were able to obtain a search warrant for McKelvey’s property. The search turned up items including marijuana plants, methamphetamine, scales, a rifle and cash.

McKelvey attempted to have the evidence suppressed, but a lower court denied the attempt and he was convicted on charges involving a controlled substance and a weapons misconduct count. On appeal, a judge ruled that his motion to suppress and been wrongly denied, and that ruling was upheld by the Alaska Supreme Court.

“The Alaska Constitution protects the right to be free of unreasonable searches,” the ruling states, according to the AP. “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 for law enforcement officials to take to the skies and train high-powered optics on the private space right outside your home without a warrant.”

An attorney for McKelvey, Robert John, called the ruling a “tremendous decision to protect the rights of privacy of Alaskans and hopefully set an example for the rest of the country,” according to the AP. He told The Hill that the Supreme Court’s ruling is a “tremendous victory for the privacy rights of all Alaskans.”

The Alaska Department of Law told The Hill it is reviewing the ruling.