Using a hidden pole camera without a warrant to spy on and record a
man’s home for more than three months violated the Fourth Amendment, the
Colorado Supreme Court
unanimously declared last month. “A camera monitoring all of a person’s
backyard activities,” Chief Justice Brian Boatright wrote for the
court, “provokes an immediate negative visceral reaction: indiscriminate
video surveillance raises the spectre of the Orwellian state.”
With its decision, the Colorado Supreme Court widens a growing split
on the constitutionality of long-term pole camera surveillance. The
Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, as well as the South Dakota Supreme
Court, have both ruled against warrantless surveillance, while the
Sixth and Seventh have ruled the opposite. more
