Question

1.Read Kyllo v. United States, 533 U.S. 27 (2001)

KYLLO v. UNITED STATES

certiorari to the united states court of appeals for the ninth circuit

No. 99–8508. Argued February 20, 2001—Decided June 11, 2001

Suspicious that marijuana was being grown in petitioner Kyllo’s home in a triplex, agents used a thermal-imaging device to scan the triplex to determine if the amount of heat emanating from it was consistent with the high-intensity lamps typically used for indoor marijuana growth. The scan showed that Kyllo’s garage roof and a side wall were relatively hot compared to the rest of his home and substantially warmer than the neighboring units. Based in part on the thermal imaging, a Federal Magistrate Judge issued a warrant to search Kyllo’s home, where the agents found marijuana growing. After Kyllo was indicted on a federal drug charge, he unsuccessfully moved to suppress the evidence seized from his home and then entered a conditional guilty plea. The Ninth Circuit ultimately affirmed, upholding the thermal imaging on the ground that Kyllo had shown no subjective expectation of privacy because he had made no attempt to conceal the heat escaping from his home. Even if he had, ruled the court, there was no objectively reasonable expectation of privacy because the thermal imager did not expose any intimate details of Kyllo’s life, only amorphous hot spots on his home’s exterior.

2.To the best of your ability, in your own words, write out the “Facts” of the case: what happened and where?

Answer 1

2. Kyllo vs United States was a case that took place during 2001 raised question regarding a thermal imaging device which was used to determine the level of radiation of heat in the house of Danny Lee Kyllo who resided in Florence, Oregon. The United States department of interior used this thermal imaging device in order to check the thermal radiation level in the house of Kyllo who was suspected to grow Marijuana plants in his house. In order to do that, the radiation of the house has to increase because light was used in abundance to help the plants photosynthesize and Kyllo used lamps to serve the purpose. The thermal imaging device just recorded the heat radiation was not able to penetrate the walls to understand the conversations or the activities inside the house. The data obtained from the device revealed that there was an unusual amount of heat radiated from the roof and the walls of the garage which helped the department issue a search warrant where it was discovered by the federal agents that more than 100 plants were grown and Kyllo was charged for growing marijuana in his place.

Kyllo appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit regarding the use of the thermal imaging device and there were a lot of speculations which made Kyllo appeal to the supreme court. The supreme court stated that the search with the help of the thermal imaging device required a warrant because the government cannot intrude into a civilians house without consent even if the device is not required to enter the building. Justice Scalia stated that difference between off the wall and through the wall surveillance and also added the role of technology will continue to do such activities in the future.

Justice John Paul Stevens claimed that the usage of thermal imaging device is not a search and it is quite normal to detect the level of thermal radiation and there is no way it is intruding the privacy of a civilian. The case attracted a lot of controversies and the verdict was against the government regarding the use of thermal imaging with a majority of 5-4, which was very close.