Tuggle v. United States

If the government points cameras at your home and films you 24/7 for 18 straight months without a warrant, is that a “search” under the Fourth Amendment? The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a case called United States v. Tuggle, recently said “no.” But in a new amicus brief supporting a petition for Supreme Court review, IJ argues that the answer is “yes.”

IJ’s amicus brief urges the Supreme Court to take the case so that it can abandon Katz and replace it with an Ordinary Meaning Test, under which the government conducts a “search” whenever it engages in purposeful, investigative conduct directed toward you or your property. Under that test, what the government did to Tuggle would trigger the Fourth Amendment.