NCJ Number
110459
Journal
University of Detroit Law Review Volume: 64 Issue: 4 Dated: (Summer 1987) Pages: 687-713
Date Published
1987
Length
27 pages
Annotation
This article discusses whether the use of television cameras at transportation centers and on the streets of Detroit, Michigan, can be justified as a legitimate government activity intended to prevent street crime or whether such video surveillance violates a person's constitutional right to free speech and association and the right to be protected from illegal searches.
Abstract
It argues that video surveillance cameras on public streets are objectionable on at least two constitutional grounds. First, the surveillance is an unreasonable search under the fourth amendment. Second, it is prohibited by the first amendment because it can inhibit freedom of expression and association. While cases can be cited indicating that the intentional television surveillance of specific individuals is considered to be a search, the Supreme Court has held that when individuals are outside their homes or other private places, they have no reasonable expectation of privacy in their public movements. However, electronic surveillance so alters the climate of community life that it constitutes an unwarranted invasion of privacy and chills free expression and association. Acknowledging that technological advances will increase the probability of new kinds of electronic surveillance, the article recommends that State legislatures enact statutes strictly regulating surveillance systems in order to limit abuse and to ensure that they intrude as little as possible on personal privacy. 99 footnotes.