Why worry if you have nothing to hide?

Oh, and facial recognition is being used in airports and big events, like the Super Bowl. Damn right it is legal. If you are walking around in public, what expectation of privacy of your face do you have? If you don't like that prospect, wear a burka.

 

8 Ways We Regularly Commit Felonies Without Realizing It

 

Ragu,

All good points, but the police can act on anything that is out in plain sight. That includes what they see through the windows of your car, and your face.

What's awkward here is the snapping of a photo, making the detainee aware of it. But this could be done with body cameras, and with lesser resolution, dashboard cameras.

And, while recent complaints may revolve around the current policing narrative, a much bigger issue is using this kind of technology for antiterrorism. This is a huge tool and is not going away, and for the safety of the country, it shouldn't.

 

I don't know if there are other cases with more comparable facts, but the U.S. Supreme Court found there was no 4th A. violation when a grand jury compelled the production of voice exemplars, stating:

"In Katz v. United States, supra, we said that the Fourth Amendment provides no protection for what "a person knowingly exposes to the public, even in his own home or office. . . ." 389 U.S. at 389 U. S. 351. The physical characteristics of a person's voice, its tone and manner, as opposed to the content of a specific conversation, are constantly exposed to the public. Like a man's facial characteristics, or handwriting, his voice is repeatedly produced for others to hear. No person can have a reasonable expectation that others will not know the sound of his voice, any more than he can reasonably expect that his face will be a mystery to the world."

U.S. v Dionisio, 410 U.S. 1 (1973)

 

Ragu,

We may disagree about a lot of things, but your last two posts re spot-on.

Now, how about a take on the gas price-gouging underway in the Midwest because of another timely refinery problem? How convenient, at the same time crude prices are cratering!

 

There's a big difference between taking a photo of someone in plain sight and stopping and detaining someone to put them through a facial recognition exam.

 

I completely agree with you about detentions and acknowledged in my post the facts weren't the perfect comparison. However, I think the facts in the case in which Katz was cited as support fall somewhere in between plain sight and detention. The appellant in the case wasn't recorded while he was out in public speaking where any and all could hear. He was required to provide an exemplar for use in a grand jury proceeding.

ETA: I'm not supporting a result that allows the police to use this technology just because and whenever. I'm not saying the Dinisio case allows it. If I were representing the police in a 4th A challenge, however, I would rely on this case and draw the parallels that exist. Are there any decisions involving police taking photos of individuals?

 

Ragu,

Again, all great points and I generally agree with you from the perspective of everyday policing.

But, I come at this from a national security angle. The Founding Fathers also didn't envision a day when someone could take one suitcase nuke and obliterate an entire city. There are tools that have been developed and are in development now to help track people before they do such a thing.

And if ever such a thing were to happen, you can forget about freedom for awhile. Continuity Of Government plans would kick in, and who knows how long it would take for us to reach a "new" normal. Personally, I think our civil liberties took a hit after 9/11, and we are not back to where we were on 9/10/01. And we probably never will be. We live in a different world.

 

It would not be hard for the authorities to take your picture if you were out in public, run it through their software and try to catch terrorists.

Go for it.

But that's different than detaining someone and making them sit and wait on the curb while you power up your iPod, download the app, answer your email and play Words with Friends while waiting to see if John Doe is the dreaded Podunk Prowler.

That's bad police work.