Pole Camera Surveillance of Drug Suspect’s Home Constitutional

The government’s warrantless 18-month surveillance of a suspected drug trafficker’s home using pole cameras didn’t amount to an unconstitutional Fourth Amendment search, the Seventh Circuit said Wednesday.

Although it expressed concerns about the test used to gauge the legality of new technology like the cameras used in this instance, the Seventh Circuit joined the Sixth, First, Fourth, Tenth, and “arguably” the Ninth circuits in declining to find Fourth Amendment searches under similar circumstances.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit distinguished a Fifth Circuit ruling requiring a court order authorizing video surveillance on the basis that the government ...