Supreme court considers legality of thermal search in drug bust
In court papers, government attorneys compared the thermal imaging scan to an officer observing someone's home. They argued that the scan does not penetrate the house and reveal private activities, and is not a constitutional violation.
The "government investigator stationed in a public place used a thermal imager to observe an area exposed to the public – the roof and exterior walls of a house – and did not observe private activities," they wrote.