The AK Supreme Court has ruled that police must obtain a warrant before using aircraft for surveillance purposes. (Fox News)
McKelvey sought to have the evidence suppressed, but a Superior Court judge denied that.
He was convicted of one court of third-degree misconduct involving a controlled substance and a weapons misconduct count. He appealed, arguing the judge wrongly denied his motion to suppress.
An appeals court reversed the Superior Court judge, and the Supreme Court affirmed the appeals court decision in its ruling released Friday.
The state maintained "that because small airplane travel is so common in Alaska, and because any passenger might peer into your yard and snap a picture of you, law enforcement officials may do the same. We disagree," the Alaska Supreme Court decision states.
"The Alaska Constitution protects the right to be free of unreasonable searches," the ruling states. "The fact that a random person might catch a glimpse of your yard while flying from one place to another does not make it reasonable for law enforcement officials to take to the skies and train high-powered optics on the private space right outside your home without a warrant."
Law enforcement officers must obtain a warrant before using aircraft and "vision-enhancing technology," such as cameras with zoom lenses or binoculars, to surveil the area surrounding a person's home that is protected from ground-level observation, the court said.
Most land in Alaska is not considered "curtilage of the home, where the right to privacy is strongest. Therefore authorities are not necessarily restricted from using aircraft and vision-enhancing technology to surveil those areas," the court said. Curtilage refers to the area in and around a home.
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Robert John, an attorney for McKelvey, called the ruling a "tremendous decision to protect the rights of privacy of Alaskans and hopefully set an example for the rest of the country."
The Department of Law did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
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https://www.foxnews.com/politics/officers-need-warrants-use-aircraft-zoom-lenses-surveil-areas-around-homes-alaska-court-says