Federal judge rules warrantless searches using automated license plate readers as unconstitutional
A federal judge in Tulsa, Oklahoma ruled on Oct. 1 that a sheriff’s deputy violated the Fourth Amendment by searching a woman’s license plate in Flock Safety’s automated license plate reader system without a warrant, marking one of the first federal court rulings to declare such surveillance unconstitutional.
The case involved Melisa Kyle, whose California license plate was searched warrantlessly by Deputy Freddie Alaniz. The search later justified a traffic stop and vehicle search that uncovered 91 pounds of methamphetamine, but Judge Sara Hill suppressed all evidence as “fruit of a poisonous tree.”
Hill distinguished Flock’s network from the 1983 Supreme Court case United States v. Knotts, ruling that Flock’s cameras create “a large-scale, dragnet-type surveillance system” that infringes on reasonable expectations of privacy by collecting extensive location data on all vehicles at all times.
The decision invokes the 2018 Carpenter v. United States precedent, which required warrants for cell phone location data. It also comes amid bipartisan opposition to automated license plate readers, including Florida and Texas ending Flock use and Sen. Bernie Sanders introducing the Block Flock Act.
While the ruling does not set binding precedent, it arrives as similar cases proliferate nationwide and highlights constitutional concerns about unchecked location data accumulation and its use to manufacture probable cause for searches.
Read Full Article: https://www.naturalnews.com/2026-10-06-judge-rules-warrantless-searches-using-alprs-unconstitutional.html
