IJ Scores Early Win Against the Surveillance State

Dear John:

I have great news to share with you: Yesterday, the chief federal district court judge in Eastern Virginia denied the city of Norfolk’s motion to dismiss our challenge to its mass surveillance system, meaning our case will move forward. 

I usually don’t alert you to news of preliminary wins, but this one is a big deal. Norfolk argued that people have no Fourth Amendment rights in their license plates or their public movements, so it’s reasonable and consistent with the Fourth Amendment for the city to set up a dragnet system of 172 cameras throughout the city to track people everywhere they go and store records of their movements in a database accessible to law enforcement across the country.

But in his opinion, the judge rejected this argument and instead adopted our position, recognizing that the city’s camera network as a whole poses significant constitutional concerns because it allows the government to secretly monitor tens of thousands of individuals’ movements over an extended period—without any warrant or judicial oversight.

Now, the case proceeds to discovery, where we’ll gather information to further expose the full extent of Norfolk’s surveillance program and its impact on residents’ constitutional rights. 

Watch the video to learn more about Norfolk's warrantless surveillance system.

This case is part of our Project on the Fourth Amendment, which strives to protect one of America’s foundational rights: the right to be secure from unreasonable searches and seizures. 

The cameras used in Norfolk are quite different than speed or red-light cameras, which are triggered by specific violations by individual drivers. Instead, these cameras monitor and track all cars regardless of whether any driver violates the law. Then the system uses AI and other tools to create massive, usable databases that can monitor any individual’s movements over an extended period of time. It's exactly the type of unchecked power that inspired the Fourth Amendment at the time of the Founding.

The use of these surveillance systems is expanding greatly in city after city. So this ruling marks a major step forward in our fight to protect property rights and privacy and to prevent government overreach. We remain committed to ensuring that Norfolk—and other cities across the country—respect the Fourth Amendment and that ordinary Americans are free to go about their lives without constant, warrantless surveillance.

Thank to our supporters for making this possible. I hope to have even better news later in the year on this case as we push toward a final victory! 

Scott

Scott G. Bullock

President and Chief Counsel

Institute for Justice

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