The growing of marijuana plants indoors or anywhere else without a license is illegal. That is undebatable. However, the legality of the way evidence was secured in the case regarding DLK growing marijuana indoors is highly debatable. Under the Fourth Amendment, the government cannot search or seize one's property without a warrant or the owner's consent. In Kyllo v. United States, F.B.I. agents tried to obtain a warrant. However, the judge stated that their evidence given by the F.B.I. wasn't adequate to issue a warrant. The F.B.I. used a thermal imager to gather more evidence to suggest that DLK was indeed growing marijuana plants in his abode. The FBI obtained a warrant to search the house and found hundreds of marijuana plants and many …show more content…
He intended to keep the activities in his house private. DLK had no idea of how to protect himself against thermal imaging or even the existence of the technology. "[DLK] did not knowingly expose his conduct, or his thermal radiation, the public. Thermal imaging is extrasensory and permits the police to "see" what is invisible to the naked eye, even though thermal imaging is not intentionally exposed to the public view" (Document D). He did not grow marijuana plants next to the window where his illegal activities could be seen. DLK did not deliberately tell everyone that there was an excess amount of heat in his abode and was also venting excess heat. “... but instead scanned a surface exposed to public view in order to detect the physical fact of relative heat [escape]” (Document E). Quite frankly, thermal imaging isn't even available to the public, nor can the public detect heat signatures with one of their five senses. There was no way for him to protect himself from the heat being revealed as there was to the marijuana being seen. The idea of someone being able to safeguard one's self from a technology he or she had not even the slightest idea about is