 “The government will become the master, and the people its slaves.” – Anti-Federalist No. 84 The ACLU is suing Sonoma County for using an intrusive drone program as a general surveillance tool, now in action despite a 40-year-old California Supreme Court ruling that prohibits warrantless aerial surveillance. The California county’s Code Enforcement Service (CES) began the illegal program six years ago under the auspices of needing help to find non-permitted cannabis growing in rural locations. But the ACLU says CES has expanded this program into a general code enforcement tool, issuing millions of dollars in fines unrelated to cannabis growing, from building code violations to zoning infringements. To accomplish this, CES employees have swooped in to “inspect” backyards, horse stables, playgrounds, hot tubs, outdoor baths, swimming pools, and more – you know, all the places where weed is usually grown? Sonoma drones have even flown under awnings and suspiciously close to curtainless windows. In fact, one of the plaintiffs captured a photo of a drone flying just outside her bedroom window (viewable at top, center-right; © Nichola Schmitz/ACLU):  Given what this image implies, would this be a good time to mention that the drones employ zoom lenses? And you thought your HOA board was devious. At least your HOA is regulated by state laws. As the Los Angeles Times points out, California has no laws regulating the use of drones by code enforcement offices (beyond the state Supreme Court ruling mentioned above). ACLU senior staff attorney Matt Cagle told the press: “When it comes to laws relating to government use of drones, it’s kind of the Wild West.” This legal uncertainty, and the fact that drone use for warrantless surveillance is proliferating, makes the ACLU lawsuit all the more important. “The use of drones over someone’s private space raises a question of what is considered private,” UC Irvine law professor Ari Ezra Waldman told the Times. Then he gave the best analogy we’ve heard regarding the unconstitutional nature of these drone surveillance operations: “ … if law enforcement on the ground wants to see on the other side of a tall fence or trees into someone’s property, they have to get the person’s consent or they need probable cause for a warrant. ‘Why shouldn’t that apply above ground too?’” Or as the popular paraphrase of Isaac Newton’s translation of an ancient tablet goes: “As above, so below.” Comments are closed.
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