Statutory Interpretation 4th Amendment Search and Seizure.

Byline: Derek Hawkins

7th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: United States of America v. Travis Tuggle

Case No.: 20-2352

Officials: FLAUM, HAMILTON, and BRENNAN, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Statutory Interpretation 4th Amendment Search and Seizure

Tuggle's case presents an issue of first impression for this Court: whether the warrantless use of pole cameras to observe a home on either a short- or long-term basis amounts to a "search" under the Fourth Amendment. The answerand even how to reach itis the subject of disagreement among our sister circuits and counterparts in state courts. Their divergent answers reflect the complexity and uncertainty of the prolonged use of this technology and others like it. Nevertheless, most federal courts of appeals that have weighed in on the issue have concluded that pole camera surveillance does not constitute a Fourth Amendment search.

Ultimately, bound by Supreme Court precedent and without other statutory or jurisprudential means to cabin the government's surveillance...