A recent ruling by the Alaska Supreme Court has caught the eye of industry professionals who said the state’s decision could spark a monumental shift in other courts as privacy laws struggle to keep pace with technological advancements.
After an aerial search of his backyard in 2012, John William McKelvey of Fairbanks, Alaska, was charged and convicted with drug and weapons offenses in 2014. McKelvey contested a warrantless search conducted overhead from an airplane by Alaska state troopers who used a zoom lens to examine McKelvey’s property. The troopers allegedly learned that McKelvey had been growing marijuana in the curtilage of his home, and troopers photographed McKelvey’s property with a lens that magnified images several times compared to the naked eye.
