| California v. Ciraolo | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Argued December 10, 1985 Decided May 19, 1986 | |
| Full case name | California v. Ciraolo |
| Citations | 476 U.S. 207 (more) 106 S. Ct. 1809; 90 L. Ed. 2d 210 |
| Case history | |
| Prior | Pleaded guilty in trial court; reversed by California Court of Appeal |
| Holding | |
| The Fourth Amendment was not violated by the naked-eye aerial observation of respondent's backyard. | |
| Court membership | |
| |
| Case opinions | |
| Majority | Burger, joined by White, Rehnquist, Stevens, O'Connor |
| Dissent | Powell, joined by Brennan, Marshall, Blackmun |
| Laws applied | |
| U.S. Const. amend. IV | |
California v. Ciraolo, 476 U.S. 207 (1986), was a decision by the Supreme Court of the United States in which the Court held that aerial observation of a person's backyard by police, even if done without a search warrant, does not violate the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
In the case, police in Santa Clara, California flew a private airplane over the property of Dante Ciraolo and took aerial photographs of his backyard after receiving an anonymous tip that he was growing marijuana plants.
Some legal scholars have called this case "the demise of private property" and that it contradicts prior case law such as Katz v. United States stating that, "Distinguishing ground level observation from aerial observation for purposes of interpreting the Fourth Amendment signals a return to the analysis adhered to in pre-Katz cases, namely a reliance upon the physical position of the observer rather than upon the privacy interests of the observed."[1]
- ^ Falcone, Rosemarie (July 1, 1987). "California v. Ciraolo: The Demise of Private Property" (PDF). Louisiana Law Review. 47 (6): 1378.