Thursday, October 22, 2015

Will Houston PD, DPS begin getting warrants for Stingray use now that feds require one?

Now that the US Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security have begun requiring agents to obtain search warrants to use "Stingray" surveillance devices (fake-cell phone towers operated by police which trick your phone into routing calls through it), will Houston PD, Fort Worth PD, Texas DPS, and other Texas agencies we don't know about who own those devices start getting warrants, too?

Houston PD doesn't even tell local prosecutors when they use the device, much less seek warrants from a judge. But that approach now diverges significantly from federal practice. Can it be sustained?

The Texas Legislature this year failed to pass legislation by Rep. Duane Bohac and Sen. Craig Estes which would have installed a warrant requirement in state law. But there's an argument the Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution requires a warrant, anyway. So, with the feds backpedaling on the question in the face of numerous court challenges, Texas agencies should probably start seeking warrants, too, or else risk a federal benchslapping down the line.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great question Grits. I read a blog piece in September posing the same legal question.
http://www.texasindigentblog.com/1/post/2015/09/1.html

Anonymous said...

"Houston PD doesn't even tell local prosecutors when they use the device, much less seek warrants from a judge".
If the entire Houston public is aware of these intrusive devices, are we to believe that somehow the Harris County prosecutors are just totally out of the loop? Stranger things have happened!!!!

Gritsforbreakfast said...

Prosecutors in Houston know Stingrays exist, 9:21, they're just not told when and how they're used.

@9:03, thanks for the link, I hadn't seen that blog before.

Anonymous said...

Prosecutors don't want to know. Just like they don't want to know the officer made up a traffic violation and the smell of weed to stop and find the contraband they learned of with the stingray or through the confidential informant they won't reveal under the MMA.

Anonymous said...

NO commissioned police officer nor officer of the court who took the oath to uphold the US Constitution and Bill of Rights would ever use any technology that has even the slightest chance of infringing on the rights recognized within. Period. It WOULD. NOT. HAPPEN. Because these people are heroes that swore a solemn oath.

Anonymous said...

Anon @11:56 is the senior investigator who just got fired for having sex with a witness one of your "heroes that swore a solemn oath"?

Anonymous said...

methinks anon@11:56 speaks in hyperbole