The June 11 letter was from Jack King, a quite clueful and thoughtful D.C. attorney who has been diligent in tracking the war on (some) drugs. Hardly an alarmist. Why can't I quite bring myself to trust "Barrie A. Vernon?" -Declan
The Washington Post, July 1, 1996, p. A16.
Technology and Privacy [Letter]
In reference to the May 31 editorial "Plant Lights and Privacy" commenting on an 11th Circuit Court of Appeals decision to uphold the use of thermal imaging in cases involving indoor marijuana growing operations: The U.S. Supreme Court had just declined to review that 11th Circuit decision.
On June 11, The Post published a letter from Jack King ["When Government Can Look Through Walls"] warning us that thermal imaging, as developed by the military and as used by civilian law enforcement agencies with the cooperation of the military, posed an Orwellian threat to citizens because the government could use the technology to tell if two people were making love in the privacy of their bedroom.
To set the record straight, military thermal imaging is used to support civilian law enforcement only after other probable cause for a search warrant, such as power bills, observation of boarded-up windows, vents on the roof to draw away heat and buys by confidential informants, are documented. The military is then called in, using thermal imagers, to determine if there is an unusual heat source in the house as detected by heat escaping from the house. In dozens of cases where thermal imaging was used, I have not observed one case where it could detect the activity of people in a house, let alone a bedroom. I also have not observed the technology to have the ability to detect what people are doing in any room behind closed doors, covered windows and walls other than to detect blurs or shadows moving around behind light curtains.
The United States v. Cusumano language quoted by Mr. King was reversed last month by the court because the original three judges decided it was an issue that didn't need deciding, i.e. the constitutionality of thermal imaging absent a search warrant, and did not exercise "judicial restraint."
The trend to Mr. King's "militarization" of the war on drugs, based on a decision by then-secretary of defense Richard Cheney that drug use represented a threat to our national security, is being carried out with restraint, respect for the law and an appropriate appreciation for the privacy of our citizens.
Barrie A. Vernon Alexandria The writer is an attorney with the National Guard Bureau at the Pentagon working in support of the counter-drug directorate.
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