Florida v. Riley case brief

Florida vs. Riley case brief summary

Facts:

Riley was growing weed in his green house in the back yard.

Police couldn’t see into the green house from the street so they flew in a helicopter 400 feet above his house and saw what looked like weed.

They then got a warrant and searched the greenhouse and he was convicted.

Analysis:

Ciraolo: individuals have no reasonable expectation of privacy from the air with how regular air traffic is.

This is conduct that any individual could engage in therefor they have no reasonable expectation of privacy. 

Other members of the public could have done what the officers saw.

Concurring Opinion:

This is not about FAA laws but how police can look from public roads even roads less traveled.

The 4^th amendment does not apply. They do not need a warrant to search.

if they were flying over because of his race or speech that would be a violation of the first amendment or other rights. 

My Own Opinion:  
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