Law-Forums.org

[larry]

if so why do the police and the government have the right to film people while driving with out a warrant and could you explain to me with the same laws why can't the government or police film someone in there own homes with out a warrant? Wouldn't recording someone in there car considered to be Invasion of privacy since the car is not considered public property? If the reason is because they are filming from public property why cant the government or police record from the street into someones home if they wanted to?

I am trying to understand the establishment clause of the first amendment

[jen]

Good luck. Many states have recently passed laws that make ones vehicle an extension of their home. As far as recording from the street into someones home, I wouldn't be surprised to hear of it happening and being upheld in court if the view from the street was unobstructed.

Edited to add: There is something known as a "reasonable expectation of privacy" which basically means that if a person is standing in their home in full view of an open window then they can not reasonably expect their actions to be private. Same thing goes for a vehicle; if an occupant of a vehicle can be seen by people outside of the vehicle they have no reasonable expectation of privacy. There have been some news stories recently of law enforcement using or testing various forms of electronic scanning that can "see" through or into a vehicle, a house, or even clothing, much like those airport scanners currently in use. Privacy advocacy groups would probably be the best place to look for more information on that subject.

[sonny]

Your house is not ON a public road; it's off of it.
Your car, when captured by a red light camera, is actually ON public property.

Also, you have a legal expectation of privacy when you are in your house. You expect that police officers and other individuals cannot see inside your home. You have NO such expectation regarding driving your car on a street. If you break the law in public, you know that a cop might see you, or someone might report you, or you might be caught on camera. That's how it works.

[hob97]

It depends if the car is payed off or a loan is taken out for it. If you have a car bought and paid for it yours, but if you have a loan out for a car that car is the property of the institution that gave you the loan. Most people think the car is there's but they are mistaken. When the repo man comes calling in the wee hours in the morning its not your car.

Given the government controls many institutions where people get car loans from it is government's property.

[lamarr3]

It depends if the car is payed off or a loan is taken out for it. If you have a car bought and paid for it yours, but if you have a loan out for a car that car is the property of the institution that gave you the loan. Most people think the car is there's but they are mistaken. When the repo man comes calling in the wee hours in the morning its not your car.

Given the government controls many institutions where people get car loans from it is government's property.

It's because they are driving on public roads. And because their license plates are state issued.