Electroshock torture handcuffs now patented: Delivers shocking torture, 'gas injections' and 'chemical restraints' to prisoners via remote control.

Wednesday, December 12, 2012
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
Editor of NaturalNews.com

The device is described in U.S. patent application number 20120298119, and the three people behind its invention are Reese; Corbin; (Scottsdale, AZ) ; Pegg; Donald L.; (Chandler, AZ) ; Lockwood; Lucius L.; (Phoenix, AZ)

As described in the patent application (bold added):

Embodiments of the restraining device of the present invention includes a restraint for physically constraining movement of at least a portion of a detainee's body; an electric shock component coupled to the restraint; and a control system coupled to the electric shock component, the control system configured to cause the electric shock component to deliver a shock to the detainee when a predetermined condition occurs. The restraining device may be any device capable of being attached to a detainee and restraining at least a portion of the detainee's body, and in various implementations may include at least one of: a handcuff; an ankle cuff; a restraining belt; a straightjacket; a harness; a facial restraint; a helmet; and a neck collar; and combinations thereof.

Combined with RFID to deliver proximity electroshocks

The handcuffs are able to deliver electroshock torture in combination with RFID chips that determine the distance between prisoners and weapons or other objects. If the prisoner wearing the cuffs approaches too closely to an RFID-equipped object, they are electro-shocked.

As the patent describes:

...if a weapon is equipped with an RFID or other identification device, sensors in the restraining device may transmit a signal and receive a response signal indicating that a weapon is in a predetermined the proximity, and if the detainee does not move away from the weapon to cause the response signal to fall below a predetermined threshold, a shock will be administered.

Here's a picture of the device, courtesy of PatentBolt.com, which originally discovered this patent:

If you fail to verbally acknowledge, you will be electroshocked

The cuffs can also be configured to deliver electroshocks to prisoners upon their failure to verbally acknowledge something. As described in the patent:

In yet another embodiment, an unauthorized activity occurs when the detainee fails to provide a predetermined verbal acknowledgement.

If you do not answer, "YES SIR!" in other words, you will be tortured for your silence.

"Gas injection" system medicates prisoner with government chemicals

It's not enough to merely electroshock torture prisoners who are wearing these cuffs, by the way. The invention also includes microscopic needles and a "gas injection system" to inject the prisoner with whatever drugs or chemicals the government desires.

As described in the patent (bolding added):

Various embodiments of the restraining device of the present invention also comprise a substance delivery system in communication with the control system, wherein the control system is configured to cause the substance delivery system to expose the detainee to the substance. The substance may includes any substance capable of being stored or delivered by the restraining device to achieve any desired result, and may be a least one of a liquid, a gas, a dye, an irritant, a medication, a sedative, a transdermal medication or transdermal enhancers such as dimethyl sulfoxide, a chemical restraint, a paralytic, a medication prescribed to the detainee, and combinations thereof. In some embodiments, the restraining device may be configured to inject the substance through a movable needle or gas injection system. Administration of such substances may be in addition to or in place of any electric shocks delivered by the restraining device, and substances may be delivered to achieve any desired goal such as providing a needed medication to a patient; preventing occurrence of uncontrollable psychotic episodes or seizures, suppression of undesirable behavior, chemical restraint when electrical restraint is insufficient (such as in the case if a energy storage device in the restraining device has insufficient charge state) or any other desired reason.

Can you get any more police state than this?

Brought to you by the same company that manufactures S&M sex toys

Natural News has learned that the inventors of these electroshock torture handcuffs are the same people involved in the manufacture and marketing of S&M sex toy handcuffs. This picture on the right, taken from their home page, depicts some of the sex bondage cuffs that their company promotes at FunCuffs.com

As their home page explains, Fun cuffs are electroshock sex toys that deliver "naughty" shocks to whatever perverted sex partner you might be toying with at the moment. As their website explains:

Fun cuffs is a revolutionary product that combines traditional hand cuffs with the ability to remotely shock the person wearing the Fun Cuffs. The level of shock can be adjusted on the remote from "nice" to "naughty". The Fun Cuffs are rechargeable so they are long lasting, allowing more time to enjoy the excitement they will bring to your play.

These electroshock S&M cuffs were apparently the beginning of what has now become a new police state electroshock torture device. On their home page as viewed on December 12, 2012, they tease about what's coming soon with their electroshock torture handcuffs, saying, "Stay tuned. More shocking news to come..." as if it's all a big joke.

In case Fun Cuffs changes their home page (which they will after this story goes viral), we have captured an image of their home page, taken on 12/12/2012. Click here to view it.

Police state tyranny and sexually deviant behavior go hand in hand

The sexually deviant behavior associated with such devices fits perfectly with the behavior of the TSA which routinely engages in the sexual molestation of air travelers in U.S. airports. TSA agents are a key part of the U.S. police state rollout, and they have been observed and video recorded molesting young children, routinely stealing electronic devices from travelers, physically assaulting elderly women, molesting journalists and even raping the editor of a prominent science journal who went public with her story.

Multiple TSA agents have been caught distributing child pornography. It is well known that the TSA deliberately hires sociopaths and pedophiles.

Police state goons and sexual deviancy go hand in hand. Janet Napolitano and her cohorts in Washington D.C. were recently the subject of a sexual harassment lawsuit brought by a top DHS police officer. As reported onDebbieSchlussel.com:

New York's top Department of Homeland Security cop is suing Department of Homeland Security Chief Janet Napolitano in an explosive but heretofore unnoticed federal lawsuit alleging Homeland Security employment discrimination against straight male agents by Napolitano in favor of her lesbian girlfriend and sexual harassment of male agents by Napolitano's handpicked Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Chief of Staff, Suzanne Barr. The lawsuit alleges that Barr demanded a male ICE Special Agent engage in oral sex with her and that she relocated three top male ICE agents' offices to the men's bathroom at ICE headquarters. All of the alleged misconduct was the behavior of Barack Obama's hand-picked people running the Department of Homeland Security, who've created a hostile work environment for straight male agents, a story I recently broke on this site.

It is no surprise, then, that the company which has patented a police state electroshock torture device is the same company that also markets S&M sex toy handcuffs which also deliver remote electro-shocks.

Prison guards, TSA and federal police state goons exhibit cruel behavior

If you put these electroshock torture devices into the hands of today's sociopathic law enforcers, it creates the perfect recipe for cruel and unusual punishment of victims who have merely been handcuffed and may not be guilty of any crime whatsoever.

In California, the raw milk man James Stewart was shackled by LA County jail goons who chained Stewart's arms and legs together, then left him in a cold, isolated cell to suffer from hypothermia. This was all part of an effort to get Stewart to relent and give in to a plea bargain (which he eventually did, in order to save his own life).

Had LA County jail guard been given access to these new patented "electroshock torture handcuffs," they would no doubt have enjoyed a few rounds of delivering painful shocks to Stewart's body as they remote controlled the device.

This is the problem with the introduction of new torture technologies into a police state society that utterly lacks ethics, morals and compassion. The United States government no longer even follows law! Instead of the devices being used for the purpose of protecting citizens' rights as guaranteed under the U.S. Bill of Rights, they will be used as entertainment devices for police state goons to "get their kicks" by torturing prisoners who will soon be anyone who speaks out against government tyranny or speaks of the United States Constitution.

Do law enforcers really abuse citizens in America today? Just recently, a deranged police officer in Texas was caught on video kneeing a kid's head into the dirt and screaming: "Move So I Can Kick Your Ass And F*** You Up!"

That video is available at InfoWars.com.

One can only imagine what these cruel, inhumane law enforcement goons are going to do if the U.S. government starts providing them with electroshock torture handcuffs.

Electroshock torture handcuffs to be featured in Mike Adams' "Freedom Chronicles" sci-fi novel

These handcuffs are so insidious and oppressive that I'm going to write them into an upcoming episode of my dystopian sci-fi novel, published FREE online, called Freedom Chronicles 2026

The next episode of Freedom Chronicles will be released this Friday, with a new episode coming each week for the next six weeks. The novel is fiction, but it parallels what we're seeing in the real world right now such as these electroshock torture handcuffs.

Sources for this story include:
PatentBolt.com - these folks deserve credit for locating this patent and sounding the alarm.

US Patent & Trademark Office where you can view the complete patent application and all its claims.

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/038320_electroshock_torture_handcuffs_patent.html#ixzz2Es3qxOI0

TSA Seeks Permission to Conduct “Security Assessments” on Highways

Steve Watson
Infowars.com
Dec 4, 2012

Greasing the skids for airport-style pat downs on the interstate.

The TSA is seeking permission from the Office of Management and Budget to conduct “security assessments” on highways as well as at 140 other public transportation hubs, including bus depots and train stations.

The request was buried amidst a deluge of jargon and published in the Federal Register on November 30.

If approved, it would allow the TSA to to “conduct transportation security-related assessments during site visits with security and operating officials of surface transportation entities.”

“Similarly, TSA wants to conduct on-site assessments with public agencies that run buses, rail transit, long-distance rail and less common types of service, such as cable cars, inclined planes, funiculars and automated guide way systems,” reports Government Security News.

On the face of it, the “security assessments” involve TSA officials telling transportation organizations what security measures they should adopt as part of the Highway Baseline Assessment for Security Enhancement (BASE) Program. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what measures the TSA is likely to recommend – more “security assessments” that require more TSA agents and more funding for the federal agency.

“TSA’s Highway BASE program seeks to establish the current state of security gaps and implemented countermeasures throughout the highway mode of transportation by posing questions to major transportation asset owners and operators. Data and results collected through the Highway BASE program will inform TSA’s policy and program initiatives and allow TSA to provide focused resources and tools to enhance the overall security posture within the surface transportation community,” states the federal filing.

In other words, get ready for TSA agents to be groping Grandma on the interstate.

Critics of the TSA will undoubtedly see this as another example of the federal agency extending its tentacles into forms of transportation other than airports and greasing the skids for airport-style security at highway checkpoints. Such measures have already been put in place at numerous train and bus stations across the country.

The TSA has already conducted checkpoint-style programs on highways before, notably in Tennessee last year where Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response (VIPR) teams checked trucks at at five weigh stations and two bus stations in the state, as well as making trucks pass through x-ray scanners. TSA officials also used the checkpoint to try and recruit truck drivers to become citizen snitches under the First Observer Highway Security Program.

Tennessee Department of Safety & Homeland Security Commissioner Bill Gibbons justified the highway checkpoints by stating, “Where is a terrorist more apt to be found? Not these days on an airplane more likely on the interstate.”

After the presence of TSA screeners on the highway made the news, the TSA responded by claiming concerns were overblown, and that TSA workers were only, “supporting state and local personnel as they inspected vehicles to identify potential security threats.”

Now it seems the TSA is looking to run its own “security-related assessments” on highways without the involvement of law enforcement.

Last year, the TSA was responsible for over 9,000 checkpoints across the United States, a number set to increase thanks to the agency’s bloated budget and its expansion beyond anything vaguely related to transportation. Since its inception in the US after 9/11, the TSA has grown in size exponentially. The agency was slammed in a recent congressional report for wasting hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars on security theater.

As Infowars has repeatedly stressed, any attempt to protest against the practices of the TSA by simply refusing to fly is largely pointless given the fact that the federal agency is expanding to cover virtually all forms of transport, as well as events that have nothing to do with transportation such as political functions, music concerts, and even high school prom nights.

TSA Is “Creating And Maintaining A Watch List” of Americans who “Violate” Its Policies

Steve Watson
Infowars.com
Dec 4, 2012

Agency keeping tabs on travelers “disqualified from eligibility” for bogus Pre check program

The TSA has quietly announced that it is constructing a watch list of individuals that it deems to be violators of it’s security rules.

The agency, under the Department of Homeland Security, notes:“As part of the effort to identify individuals that are low risk, TSA also is creating and maintaining a watch list of individuals who are disqualified from eligibility from TSA Pre[check]TM, for some period of time or permanently, because they have been involved in violations of security regulations of sufficient severity or frequency.”

The announcement came in the November 19 edition of The Federal Register, a daily journal issued by the federal government.

The PreCheck program, introduced earlier this year, encourages frequent fliers to allow TSA access to a host of details and personal information, the idea being that if you qualify, you are spared some of the security theater hell that the rest of the cattle are forced to endure when passing through airport checkpoints.

The announcement continues:“Disqualifying violations of aviation security regulations may involve violations at the airport or on board aircraft, such as a loaded firearm that is discovered in carry-on baggage at the checkpoint, or a threat to use a destructive device against a transportation conveyance, facilities, or personnel. The TSA Pre[check]TM Disqualification List will be generated by TSA’s Performance and Results Information System (PARIS).”The ultimate irony behind this revelation is the fact that some attempting to sign up to avoid TSA interrogation every time they fly, could ultimately end up on a government watch list and be subjected to even more nightmare police state treatment than if they had not bothered in the first place.

Indeed, it seems that TSA’s PreCheck is nothing more than a smokescreen to get people to officially submit to the security theater checkpoints. The agency admits that those signed up to PreCheck will still be “randomly” subjected to the same treatment as everyone else. Accounts from dissatisfied PreCheck “clients” have already confirmed that there is no such thing as “hassle-free” boarding.

The recent revelation that anyone can print out a boarding-pass and alter one number on it to make it appear they are enrolled in PreCheck goes to show that the program is just another layer of security theater. In addition, there have been accounts of travelers being mistakenly waved through the PreCheck lines, even though they have NEVER registered for the program.

PreCheck is intrinsically flawed and threatens to make flying LESS safe. However, it does enable the government to compile yet another watch list of Americans who are disgruntled with the police state crackdown at airports.

Given that it was recently discovered that some TSA procedures, including complaints, are operated and processed in all manner of different ways and at the whim of each individual TSA agent, it is no stretch of the imagination to expect that anyone merely opting out of the body scanners, complaining about pat-downs, or filming at checkpoints could be considered to be in “violation”, and therefore added to this latest watch list.

The ACLU has previously contended that huge numbers of Americans are opposed to the measures employed by the DHS and the TSA in the nations airports and train stations, but that many have not registered official complaints for fear of being placed on a watch list.Remember that the government already operates two “watch lists” that we know of with regards to air travel.  Also remember that the secret government “no fly list” of suspected “terrorists” who are banned from flying to or within the United States more than doubled in 2011. The figures, earlier this year, highlighted the fact that the list now contains around 21,000 names, close to 11,000 more than it did just one year previously.

The government has refused to reveal details of who is on the list and the reason they have been flagged.

In lawsuit against the government, the ACLU is representing American citizens who believe they have been put on the no fly list without explanation. Currently, those who submit a letter to Homeland Security asking to be removed from the list have no way of knowing if their request has been reviewed without attempting to board another flight, according to the ACLU.

This no-fly list, as well as the airlines’ CAPS II system, pales in comparison to the separate government master “terrorist watch list” that reportedly now has over one million names on it.Reports have confirmed that the watch list contains the names of thousands of innocent Americans, including babies,  children, lawyers and even a retired Air National Guard brigadier, now a commercial pilot for a major airline.

In some cases credit reports have been used in calculating the risk score, while the list has also been used to target political activists opposing the death penalty and the Iraq war. Some, including former White House Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel have suggested restricting the constitutional rights of those placed on the list. There have also been calls to apply the watch list to Amtrak trains as well as checkpoints at subways, malls and sports stadiums.The chairman of a House technology oversight subcommittee warned in 2008 that the database used to produce the government’s terror watch lists is “crippled by technical flaws,” and the system that was due to, and now has, replaced it may be even worse.

In a letter to the inspector general at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Rep. Brad Miller (D-NC) warned that the upgrade “if actually deployed will leave our country more vulnerable than the existing yet flawed system in operation today.”

We have previously highlighted the fact that a miniscule amount, less than 0.01% of Homeland Security cases are terrorism related.

Once again we are reminded that the terrorist threat to America is vastly over hyped and is being used by a criminally controlled government as an excuse to foment a domestic police state to crush any dissent amongst the American people.

Such watch lists represent a subversion of the first and fourth amendments, are inherently flawed and are MORE harmful to the security of the nation.—————————————————————-Steve Watson is the London based writer and editor for Alex Jones’ Infowars.com, andPrisonplanet.com. He has a Masters Degree in International Relations from the School of Politics at The University of Nottingham in England.

U.N. Celebrates Obama Re-election by Pushing Global Gun Control, says Second Amendment Foundation

Second Amendment Foundation

Less than 24 hours after winning re-election, President Barack Obama’s administration joined with China, France, Germany and the United Kingdom, and more than 150 other governments, in supporting renewed debate on the proposed United Nations Arms Trade Treaty, confirming the worst fears of the American gun rights community.

The vote came at the U.N. General Assembly’s meeting of the First Committee on Disarmament at the world organization’s headquarters in New York City.

“It’s obvious that our warnings over the past several months have been true,” said Alan Gottlieb, founder and executive vice president of the Second Amendment Foundation. “The election was called about 11 p.m. Tuesday and by 11 a.m. this morning, we got word that the United States was supporting this resolution. We have to be more vigilant in our efforts to stop this proposed treaty.”

SAF Operations Director Julianne Versnel, who has been back and forth to the United Nations over this proposal, said the fight is not finished. The measure will be considered for finalization in March 2013.

“We will continue to monitor this issue and oppose any effort to enforce a global gun control measure,” she stated.

Amnesty International issued a statement Wednesday lauding passage of the resolution, saying the treaty will protect human rights.

“The right of self-defense is a human right,” Gottlieb countered, “and in this country, the Second Amendment protects that right.

“Just days ago as he campaigned for re-election,” he concluded, “Barack Obama told his supporters that voting is the ‘best revenge.’ I guess now we know what he was talking about. The revenge he seeks is against American gun owners and their Second Amendment rights.”

The Second Amendment Foundation (www.saf.org) is the nation’s oldest and largest tax-exempt education, research, publishing and legal action group focusing on the Constitutional right and heritage to privately own and possess firearms.  Founded in 1974, The Foundation has grown to more than 650,000 members and supporters and conducts many programs designed to better inform the public about the consequences of gun control.

10 dire consequences of Obama’s re-election victory

Mike Adams
Natural News
Nov 7, 2012

(NaturalNews) What does an Obama re-election mean for the next four years in America? Now that he's in his second and last term, of course, Obama no longer needs to restrain his actions according to popularity. He can simply unleash any desirable executive order and rule by decree, bypassing Congress as he has frequently promised to do.

This puts America in a very dangerous situation, given Obama's well-demonstrated desire to destroy freedom and liberty in this nation. Remember: Obama is anti health freedom, anti food freedom, anti GMO labeling, anti medical freedom and anti farm freedom. He's the one who issued an executive order claiming government ownership over all farms and farm equipment, in case you forgot that little fact.

He's also the guy who just recently issued an executive order merging Homeland Security with local corporate entities to grant the executive branch of government a power monopoly over the nation, bypassing the courts and Congress. You probably haven't even heard about that one, because he secretly signed it during Hurricane Sandy.

Given Obama's atrocious track record on freedom during his first four years in the White House, here are my top 10 predictions for the next four (if America even lasts that long before ripping itself apart):

#1) Huge expansion of TSA and the surveillance state
Watch for TSA to expand its occupation of America by setting up checkpoints on roadways, sporting events, malls and "surprise" locations. Expect to see TSA agents become even more belligerent and lawless as they ramp up their sexual molestation of innocent victims.

#2) Expansion of secret arrests of American citizens
Obama secretly signed the NDAA, legalizing the secret arrests of U.S. citizens while denying them due process. Obama also authorized secret "kill lists" that claim to authorize the U.S. government to assassinate targeted individuals.
With his re-election in place, expect Obama to start issuing a mass of "kill orders" that will even start targeting political opponents.

#3) Acceleration of national debt blowout and endless fiat currency creation
Under Obama, the national debt experienced a massive blowout where Obama added trillions of dollars to the existing debt: www.USdebtclock.orgRight now, Obama is overseeing a trillion dollars a year in additional debt -- an amount that simply cannot be sustained without running smack into a financial catastrophe. It now appears that financial collapse it going to occur under Obama, not Romney.

#4) Rapid expansion of GMOs and USDA collusion
Monsanto and the biotech corporations have thrived under the Obama administration thanks to USDA collusion and scientific fraud.
Over the next four years, expect GMOs to dominate the U.S. food supply while the Obama White House rejects any effort to try to label GMOs on a national basis.

#5) Increasingly dictatorial government health care
Obamacare will grow like a cancer, pushing Americans into mandatory vaccinations that inject children with mercury, formaldehyde, MSG and aluminum.
Look for the Obama administration to wage even more wars against raw milk freedom, farm freedom and food freedom, all while requiring yet more foods to be pasteurized or fumigated under the guise of "food safety."

#6) Immediate surge in sales of guns and ammo
Obama has promised to try to destroy the Second Amendment and deny Americans the liberty to own firearms. With his re-election, expect to see a massive surge in gun sales as more people attempt to stock up in anticipation of gun bans (or government gun confiscation).

#7) Accelerated erosion of the Bill of Rights and civil liberties
Under Obama, civil rights, human rights and the Bill of Rights will be rapidly eroded. This goes hand in hand with the cancerous growth of government. As government expands its power and confiscates more economic resources, it simultaneously destroys individual liberties and due process.
This isn't to say that Romney would have been any better, of course. Both candidates were philosophically invested in the rapid expansion of Big Government.

#8) Continued destruction and looting of the U.S. economy
Under Obama, the financial looting of the U.S. economy by the global bankster elite will continue. The same would have been true with Romney, by the way.
Under Obama, America's unemployment rate will continue to head skyward, entitlements will be expanded, and the USA will be plunged into a tyrannical welfare state dominated by mindless zombies who have no cognitive grasp of reality.

#9) A "giant sucking sound" of employers leaving America
Ross Perot was right! That "giant sucking sound" is the sound of employers leaving America in droves, hiring offshore workers instead of creating jobs in the USA. And why? Because employers can't afford to pay Obamacare mandates and still stay competitive in the global marketplace.

#10) Stepped-up attacks on veterans and preppers
Returning U.S. veterans will continue to be vilified by the Obama administration, to the point where even more veterans will be arrested as "terrorists" for engaging in fundamental preparedness strategies such as storing food, water, medicine and ammo.
Watch for the liberal media to join the White House in painting veterans as "dangerous" individuals needing psychiatric medications. Never mind the fact that the media owes preppers a huge apology in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.

Source : http://www.naturalnews.com/037872_Obama_election_predictions.html#ixzz2BYlHRtC2

Police Officer Tasers 10 year old boy for refusing to clean his police vehicle.

(www.courthousenews.com)

SANTA FE, N.M. (CN) - A New Mexico policeman Tasered a 10-year-old child on a playground because the boy refused to clean his patrol car, the boy claims in court.     

Guardian ad litem Rachel Higgins sued the New Mexico Department of Public Safety and Motor Transportation Police Officer Chris Webb on behalf of the child, in Santa Fe County Court. Higgins claims Webb used his Taser on the boy, R.D., during a May 4 "career day" visit to Tularosa New Mexico Intermediate School. 

"Defendant Webb asked the boy, R.D., in a group of boys, who would like to clean his patrol unit," the complaint states. "A number of boys said that they would. R.D., joking, said that he did not want to clean the patrol unit. "Defendant Webb responded by pointing his Taser at R.D. and saying, 'Let me show you what happens to people who do not listen to the police.'"  Webb then shot "two barbs into R.D.'s chest," the complaint states.  "Both barbs penetrated the boy's shirt, causing the device to deliver 50,000 volts into the boy's body.  "Defendant Webb pulled the barbs out [of] the boy's chest, causing scarring where the barbs had entered the boy's skin that look like cigarette burns on the boy's chest.     

"The boy, who weighed less than 100 lbs., blacked out.  "Instead of calling emergency medical personnel, Officer Webb pulled out the barbs and took the boy to the school principal's office," the complaint states. Higgins says the Tasing gave the boy post-traumatic stress syndrome, and that "The boy, R.D., has woken up in the middle of the night holding his chest, afraid he is never going to wake up again." She adds: "No reasonable officer confronting a situation where the need for force is at its lowest, on a playground with elementary age children, would have deployed the Taser in so reckless a manner as to cause physical and psychological injury."     

She seeks punitive damages for the boy for battery, failure to render emergency medical care, excessive force, unreasonable seizure, and negligent hiring, training, supervision and retention.     Higgins and R.D. are represented by the Kennedy Law Firm, of Albuquerque.

Source: http://www.courthousenews.com/2012/10/30/51809.htm

Court OKs warrantless use of hidden surveillance cameras

Declan McCullagh

(www.cnet.com)

October 30, 2012

In latest case to test how technological developments alter Americans' privacy, federal court sides with Justice Department on police use of concealed surveillance cameras on private property.

Police are allowed in some circumstances to install hidden surveillance cameras on private property without obtaining a search warrant, a federal judge said yesterday.

CNET has learned that U.S. District Judge William Griesbach ruled that it was reasonable for Drug Enforcement Administration agents to enter rural property without permission -- and without a warrant -- to install multiple "covert digital surveillance cameras" in hopes of uncovering evidence that 30 to 40 marijuana plants were being grown.

This is the latest case to highlight how advances in technology are causing the legal system to rethink how Americans' privacy rights are protected by law. In January, the Supreme Court rejected warrantless GPS tracking after previously rejecting warrantless thermal imaging, but it has not yet ruled on warrantless cell phone tracking or warrantless use of surveillance cameras placed on private property without permission.

Yesterday Griesbach adopted a recommendation by U.S. Magistrate Judge William Callahan dated October 9. That recommendation said that the DEA's warrantless surveillance did not violate the Fourth Amendment, which prohibits unreasonable searches and requires that warrants describe the place that's being searched.

"The Supreme Court has upheld the use of technology as a substitute for ordinary police surveillance," Callahan wrote.

Two defendants in the case, Manuel Mendoza and Marco Magana of Green Bay, Wis., have been charged with federal drug crimes after DEA agent Steven Curran claimed to have discovered more than 1,000 marijuana plants grown on the property, and face possible life imprisonment and fines of up to $10 million. Mendoza and Magana asked Callahan to throw out the video evidence on Fourth Amendment grounds, noting that "No Trespassing" signs were posted throughout the heavily wooded, 22-acre property owned by Magana and that it also had a locked gate.

(Credit: U.S. Department of Justice)

U.S. Attorney James Santelle, who argued that warrantless surveillance cameras on private property "does not violate the Fourth Amendment."

Callahan based his reasoning on a 1984 Supreme Court case called Oliver v. United States, in which a majority of the justices said that "open fields" could be searched without warrants because they're not covered by the Fourth Amendment. What lawyers call "curtilage," on the other hand, meaning the land immediately surrounding a residence, still has greater privacy protections.

"Placing a video camera in a location that allows law enforcement to record activities outside of a home and beyond protected curtilage does not violate the Fourth Amendment," Justice Department prosecutors James Santelle and William Lipscomb told Callahan.

As digital sensors become cheaper and wireless connections become more powerful, the Justice Department's argument would allow police to install cameras on private property without court oversight -- subject only to budgetary limits and political pressure.

About four days after the DEA's warrantless installation of surveillance cameras, a magistrate judge did subsequently grant a warrant. But attorneys for Mendoza and Magana noticed that the surveillance took place before the warrant was granted.

"That one's actions could be recorded on their own property, even if the property is not within the curtilage, is contrary to society's concept of privacy," wrote Brett Reetz, Magana's attorney, in a legal filing last month. "The owner and his guest... had reason to believe that their activities on the property were not subject to video surveillance as it would constitute a violation of privacy."

A jury trial has been scheduled for January 22.

Source: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-57542510-38/court-oks-warrantless-use-of-hidden-surveillance-cameras/