Thermal Imaging

The cuticle involved a Mr. metalworker whos house was suspicious of growing cannabis. The guard used thermic applied science to scan Mr. smiths house where they anchor superior amounts of heat. The police thence got a front obiter dictum and found marijuana growing in his house. Smith was then chokered and entered a conditional guilty plea. Now the high court had to make a decision that would ch every(prenominal)enge even the ampleest attorney and justice to ever step into the unequivocal romance. The case started mangle with the lawyer for Smith making his case for Smith.The lawyer stated that that the thermic image on Smiths house was indeed a bet and that this re face was unecessary. His house and privacy were protected by the quaternate amendment of the get together States. The technical schoolnology was non used properly and un characterally viewed contents on the wrong of Smiths home without a warrant. The thermal vision devices should have non been adeq uate to view just his complex and if he was singled out then everyone should be posit to the same thermal imaging of their homes.In his final statements Smiths lawyer said that thermal imaging is infact a calculate and that the thermal imaging had no probably own and he should go free for this assault of his 4th amendment. The next speaker was the lawyer representing the get together States. The lawyer for the United States said that the thermal imaging device brought about a equiprobable cause in the triplex and that he was previously suspected for having marijuana so they had to do it for public safety. He also pointed out that a warrant was come to the fored for the search of his house.The United States lawyer ended his statement stating that Smith is a criminal and thermal imaging was used in the case of probable cause. The next speaker was the Solicitor General of the United States. The cosmopolitan was in favor of Smith. He stated that thermal imaging is a search. The thermal imager had no probable cause and that apply this high tech device that no normal person can afford should be used without a warrant. The General finished with saying that Smith should go free for this because he was illegally searched.The fourth amendment of the constitution guards against unreasonable search and seizures when the search party has reasonable expectation of privacy. The amendment specifically requires search warrants be judicially sanctioned and supported by probable cause. It was adopted as a response to the abuse of search warrants in the American Revolution. The debate of the definition of search has been challenged in many cases in the invoice of the United States and is brought up again in this case.The Supreme Court conventionality that a search occurs exactly when a person expects privacy in the thing search and society beliefves that expectation is reasonable. This was decided in Katz v. United States in 1967. In Katz the Court ruled that a sear ch had occurred when the establishment wiretapped a telephone booth. Now seizure is the other part of the 4th amendment. A Seizure of propert occurs when there is meaningful interference by the judicature with an individuals possessory interests. The exclusionary rule also decline in qualitys under seizure.The exclusionary rule states that voluntary answers to questions assumption to officers be offered into evidence in a ciminal prosecution. The government may not detain and individual even momentarily without reasonable, objective grounds, with few exceptions. The refusal to list or answers does not answer these grounds. The invasion on peoples privacy is only minimal and is usually only in speical cases. Some of these exceptions are at borders and ports of entry into the United States as well as Roadblocks.Another sizeable part of this case was the question is a warrant needed. A warrant is anaesthetized by a judge and only then may a officer legally search someones pro perty. Without this warrant it was unconstitutionally searched and therefore is void. Warrants are required for any search of property. Some exceptions to a warrant are comply, Plain View, Open field, Curtilage, Motor Vehicles and Searches incident to a lawful arrest. Consent is if a part allows a search to happen. Plain view is if something is viewable by the officer he can confiscate it.Open Fields such as farm fields, opne water, and woods may be searched without a warrant. Curtilage is the outdoor area fastly surrounding the home, which is protected by the 4th amendment. Courts have determined that this area is an extension of the house and is subject to privacy. People in automobiles have reduced privacy because vehicles are not used as homes. Vehicles cannot be randomly stopped and searched , there mustiness be probable cause or ciminal activity. With probable cause officers may search any area inner a car.However, they cannot search rider without probable cause to search them. The Searches incident to a lawful arrest are used to prevent the arrested individual from destorying evidence or using a weapon against the officer. It is reasonalbe for the officer to search the area within the arrestees immediate control. A search of lets say the room they were arrested in is acceptable. Now comes the issue of Probable Cause which was brought up many times in this case. The police must have legally sufficient reasons to believe that a search is necessary.And during this search they must uncover criminal activity or contraband. The Supreme Court had many cases involving Probable Cause. In Carrol V. United States the Supreme Court stated that probably cause to search is a flexible, common-sense standard. So the issue of probable cause can be a toss up and cant really be determined directly (Adapted from History Book and Wikipedia. com). If I were a justice on the Supreme Court I would rule in favor of Smith. The use of thermal imaging reveals the contents of the inside of his home.This violates his right of security and thus violates the 4th amendment. The officers did have probable cause to search his house because of his alleged marijuana growth. But that doesnt mean they could search his house without a warrant. They needed to get judicial consent forward using the thermal imaging to search his house. Plus thermal imaging is not available to everyone so they could not use it without consent. Our class found Smith innocent. The police unlawfully searched his house with the use of thermal imaging. so far though we came to this verdict it could have easily gone the other way. It all is based on your view of the Constitution. Unless you are one of the people who wrote the eyeshade of Rights I guess we can never truly get a line the constitution fully and it is proven with the countless cases brought to the Supreme Court over the years. I think instead of us trying to understand the constitution in our own ways, we should study the fou nding fathers into depth and learn the true meanings of their quarrel and the reasons for why they created this great rules.Even with the addition of new technologies and advanced packet we need to continue to look back at our roots which created this great nation. If we do not do this our nation will likely fall due to our own negligence and feeling of superiority over everyone in the world. We need to learn from our mistakes and build a more simpler life as they had back in the 1700s. Only then will we truly understand The Constitution and the reasons for why we have made it this far as a nation.