Kyllo V. Us Case Study

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Kendall Kramer
Case Brief #1

Kyllo v. United States (2001) 533 U.S. 27 (2001)
Judges
Judges involved in this case included Rehnquist, O’Connor, Scalia, Stevens, Kennedy, Thomas, Ginsburg, Souter and Breyer. Opinion judges included Scalia, Souter, Thomas, Ginsburg and Breyer. Dissenting judges included Stevens, Rehniquist, O’Connor and Kennedy.
Facts
After there had been suspicion that Danny Kyllo was growing marijuana in his Oregon home, the United States Department of the Interior used a thermal imaging device to observe the amount of heat being produced in his home. This device can only detect the presence of heat and does not invade personal privacy. After finding that the thermal imagining device showed high levels of heat in the home, …show more content…

Procedural Facts
Kyllo tried to have the evidence that was found in his home suppressed as he felt his rights to the Fourth Amendment were being violated. However, the Ninth Circuit decided that the use of a thermal image device did not violate the Fourth Amendment. This decision was then reversed. The Court then determined whether or not there was cause for the search warrant without the use of the imaging device. After rehearing the case, the Ninth Circuit agreed with the court in stating that the use of a thermal imaging device is not in violation of the Fourth Amendment.
Current Courts Opinion
In a 5-4 opinion the Supreme Court decides that the Governments use of a thermal imagining device that is not available to the public to gather information of a home that would be unknown without using the device is a violation of the Fourth Amendment search and is deemed unreasonable. The majority opinion argued that a person has the right to privacy in their own home. This argument is then rejected. Judge Scalia argued that there is a fine line when it comes to the Fourth Amendment and because they did not “enter” the home, it was not an invasion of privacy. The Dissent judges presented that, although a thermal imaging device was used, the tool did not invade Kyllos privacy as it only gathered heat

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