Pubdate: Fri, 23 Feb 2001 Source: Red Bluff Daily News (CA) Copyright: 2001 Red Bluff Daily News Contact: P.O. Box 220 Red Bluff, CA 96080 Feedback: http://redbluffdailynews.com/opinion/ Website: http://redbluffdailynews.com/ UNREASONABLE SEARCHES THE HIGH-TECH WAY Drug agents used something called a thermal imager to try to figure out what was going on in the home of Danny L. Kyllo. The instrument, it is reported, can detect infrared radiation, which is to say, it can pick up on unusual heat. The agents were thus able to figure out that Kyllo was probably using lots of light bulbs to help him grow marijuana. They were then able to obtain a search warrant, found the marijuana and arrested Kyllo. The case is now in the U.S. Supreme Court, where justices will decide if agents standing outside a home and looking inside by means of such a device is equivalent to the unconstitutional practice of an unreasonable search. If common sense is a trustworthy guide, it is. The government contends the thermal imager did not reveal private activities. But if the government agents had not been able to establish certain facts about the inside of Kyllo's house through their walls-invading imager, there may have been no arrest and there would be nothing for the court to consider. In a case such as this one, which involves high-tech instruments the country's founders never imagined, it obviously is crucial to focus on the principle incorporated in the constitutional language that they crafted. They had to have understood that unfettered searches by police could in fact result in bringing large numbers of criminals to justice. Their concern clearly was something else - to protect the dignity of the person from governmental intrusiveness and make homes as nearly inviolable under law as reasonableness would permit - even at the risk of some criminals escaping detection. High-technology has given the government any number of new tools with which to invade your privacy. News account note that the government can spy on your back yard from satellites in space or listen to your conversations with family and friends by means of sophisticated instruments. Isn't that as much an unreasonable search as the prying eyes of a government agent who broke into your house? It is the principle that counts, and in this high-tech age, it is more vital than ever that the courts not be overly precise in their analysis of the Constitution's words alone. If they are, they will invite its diminishment. - --- MAP posted-by: Andrew