Dow Chemical Co. v. United States

Argued December 10, 1985
Decided May 19, 1986
Full case name Dow Chemical Company v. United States
Citations

476 U.S. 227 (more)

106 S.Ct. 1819; 90 L.Ed.2d 226
Argument Oral argument
Prior history Summary judgment for plaintiff, 536 F. Supp. 1355 (E.D. Mich. 1982); reversed on appeal, 749 F.2d 307 (6th Cir. 1984); cert. granted 472 U.S. 1007 (1985)
Holding
Fourth Amendment protection involves the invasion of areas where intimate activities occur, whereas "the open areas of an industrial complex are more comparable to an 'open field' in which an individual may not legitimately demand privacy."
Court membership
Chief Justice
Warren E. Burger
Associate Justices
William J. Brennan, Jr. · Byron White
Thurgood Marshall · Harry Blackmun
Lewis F. Powell, Jr. · William Rehnquist
John P. Stevens · Sandra Day O'Connor
Case opinions
Majority Burger, joined by White, Rehnquist, Stevens, O'Connor
Concur/dissent Powell (concur Part III, dissent Parts I-II), joined by Brennan, Marshall, Blackmun
Laws applied
U.S. Const. amend. IV

Dow Chemical Co. v United States was a US Supreme Court case decided in 1986 dealing with the right to privacy and advanced technology of aerial surveillance.

The EPA used, without a warrant, a commercial aerial photographer to get photographs of a heavily guarded Dow facility that was, according to the petitioner, protected by the State Trade Secrecy Law. The decision: For purposes of aerial surveillance, the open areas of an industrial complex are more comparable to an "open field" in which an individual may not legitimately demand privacy. [1] In the absence of a "reasonable expectation of privacy" the Fourth Amendment prohibiting unreasonable searches does not apply.

References

  1. ↑ Oliver v. United States, 466 U. S. 170
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.