'Ride-Alongs' and Privacy

Paper Summary:

This paper begins with a case study of the "Wilson vs. Layne" case, a case in which news media agents took photographs of a mistaken arrest in a private house. The paper explains the legal process involved with the case, stating that while there were severe privacy breeches in the case, the court was unable to say that the homeowner, Charles Wilson, had experienced a violation of his Fourth Amendment rights. The paper then discusses the issue of media "ride-alongs," a practice in which police take media agents with them to capture images of arrests and police actions. The paper discusses the role of the press in police work, and points out the privacy violations which are a risk of the practice of "ride-alongs."

From the Paper:

"When the appeal was sent to the Supreme Court, the Court granted Charles the 'certiorari'. The case of Wilson vs. Layne gave rise to the question of whether or not when federal and state officials issue an arrest warrant to a citizen, either at his home or elsewhere, can they allow the media to accompany them on their official duty? And would such an arrest warrant, when it is issued at the home of the individual, be considered to be a violation of a homeowner's Fourth Amendment protection as under 'unlawful search and seizure'? In this particular case, the Court held the ruling that if the media were to be present during the execution of an arrest warrant, then it was to be considered that it was in no way at all related to what the officials were doing during their course of work. The media dose in no way assist the officials, and in the same manner, they have nothing whatsoever to do with the execution of the arrest warrant."

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