The Michigan Supreme Court on Friday ruled unanimously in favor of a local government in a dispute over the flying of a drone to take photos of a rural collection site without permission.
Liberal and conservative groups closely monitored the case and even worked together to ask the court to throw out the evidence Long Lake Township had collected.
Michigan Supreme Court rejects attempt to remove Trump from ballots
Todd and Heather Maxson argued that the aerial photos violated their right to be free from unreasonable searches. But the Supreme Court said disputes over excess junk on wooded lots are civil cases, not criminal cases, so the so-called exclusion rule doesn’t apply.
“We decline to address whether the use of a drone under the circumstances presented here constitutes an unreasonable search in violation of the United States Constitution and the Michigan Constitution,” the court said in a 7-0 opinion.
An appeals court has dismissed charges against Michigan election officials who downloaded voter rolls.
Without the photos and videos, the township “would have difficulty ensuring the Maxons’ property complied with local zoning and nuisance ordinances,” the court wrote in a decision written by Judge Brian Zahra. I mentioned it in.
The northern Michigan town flew drones over the property in 2017 and 2018 after neighbors claimed the Maxons were storing too many cars and other items. The township said the land was being converted into a salvage yard, which violates a previous lawsuit settlement.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan, the Mackinac Public Policy Center, the Cato Institute, and the Rutherford Institute submitted Maxon’s brief. The Michigan Association of Townships and the Michigan League of Cities supported the township.
