Welcome to Open Fields
... Can the government place cameras and monitoring equipment on a private citizen’s land at will, or conduct surveillance and stakeouts on private land, without probable cause or a search warrant? Indeed, according to the U.S. Supreme Court’s (SCOTUS) interpretation of the Fourth Amendment. Welcome to Open Fields.
The vast majority of Americans assume law enforcement needs a warrant to carry out surveillance, but for roughly a century, SCOTUS has ruled that private land—is not private. Fourth Amendment protections against “unreasonable searches and seizures” expressed in the Bill of Rights only apply to an individual’s immediate dwelling area, according to SCOTUS.
Curtilage
The area, usually enclosed, encompassing the grounds and buildings immediately surrounding a home that is used in the daily activities of domestic life.
A garage, barn, smokehouse, chicken house, and garden are curtilage if their locations are reasonably near to the home. The determination of what constitutes curtilage is important for purposes of the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution, which prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures of a person and of his or her home or property. Courts have construed the word home to include curtilage so that a person is protected against unlawful searches and seizures of his or her curtilage.https://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/curtilageOK, so game wardens have essentially been weaponized and are acting like unaccountable fricken Gestapo...OK, good to know. The Patriot in me says in no way shape or form should this pass Constitutional muster...if The Founders were alive today they would say no way in heck does any government have such tyrannical authority...PERIOD!
So, what to do. Since they like to come armed to teeth over a fricken camera placed there like dirty slinking sneaking slime instead of being up front like a normal non-goosestepping prick and asking permission...no they skulk like spies...it is not unreasonable to react by placing barbed wire topped with razors, electric fences, broad array digital surveillance and sensors, MRAP traps, claymores, draw-bridges, porticullis, murderholes...
Well, certainly beef up your curtilage, add the electric fence, barbed wire...surveillance systems...drones...there is NO reason to make it easy for these goosetepping assholes!!!
