Dow Chemical Company v. United States (1985)
- Docket
- 84-1259
- Decided
- 1985-01-01
Summary
Question: Does the Fourth Amendment require government inspectors to obtain warrants before conducting aerial searches of outdoor business facilities? Conclusion: No. Justice Warren Burger delivered the opinion for a 5-4 court. The Court maintained that the EPA's statutory jurisdiction "carries with it all the modes of inquiry and investigation traditionally employed or useful to execute the authority granted." Fourth Amendment protection involves the invasion of areas where intimate activities occur, whereas "the open areas of an industrial complex are more comparable to an 'open field' in which an individual may not legitimately demand privacy." The fact that EPA could take aerial photographs of the facilities from public airspace with the standard photographic equipment employed by mapmakers confirmed that the area was not subject to strict protection from observation.