Texas: Houston Says Businesses Must Install Surveillance Cameras and Cops Can View Footage Without a Warrant

[Democide]

Won't fly, this is no different than the Los Angeles ordinance mandating warrantless access to hotel/motel registration records, which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional:

The Supreme Court has struck down a Los Angeles ordinance that permits the police to check guest registries at motels and hotels at any hour of the day or night. The 5-4 decision upheld a ruling of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals that vacated the law, saying it authorized unreasonable searches.​

Houston Says Businesses Must Install Surveillance Cameras and Cops Can View Footage Without a Warrant

21 April 2022

Houston mandates spying outside bars and other businesses. Officials in Houston, Texas, have voted to require an array of businesses—including bars, convenience stores, and strip clubs—to install surveillance cameras and make footage from them readily available to police. The dystopian move is a transparently unconstitutional attempt by city leaders to circumvent Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches and seizures. To access video from the cameras, police officers will not need a warrant. The rules apply to all Houston bars, convenience stores, game rooms, nightclubs, or sexually-oriented businesses. Owners of these establishments must install (on their own dime) surveillance cameras in ...

Houston Says Businesses Must Install Surveillance Cameras and Cops Can View Footage Without a Warrant

Plus: The Warrant for Metadata Act, DOJ will appeal order ending mask mandate, and more...

reason.com

 

[Democide]

City Forces Private Businesses to Install 24/7 Digital Surveillance Cameras for Warrantless Access by Police

12 June 2022

The Rutherford Institute is calling on the City of Houston to address glaring constitutional concerns relating to a recently adopted ordinance that requires private businesses to install citywide digital surveillance cameras that can be accessed by police without a search warrant. The Exterior Security Cameras Ordinance, adopted by the Houston City Council on April 20, 2022, requires private businesses to purchase and install digital surveillance cameras that carry out round-the-clock, citywide surveillance on the populace while “allowing” police to access the footage at any time, for any reason, and without the need of a court-issued warrant. In a letter to ...

City Forces Private Businesses to Install 24/7 Digital Surveillance Cameras for Warrantless Access by Police

Business owners must bear the costs of the cameras, ensure the cameras are in proper working order, and maintain recordings for at least 30 days

thefreethoughtproject.com

 

[Democide]

Houston Passes Ordinance Forcing Businesses To Install Cameras, Provide Warrantless Access To Recordings

29 April 2022

Citing a post-pandemic shutdown surge in violent crime and some other shaky reasoning, the city council of Houston, Texas has decided the time has come to violate the rights of business owners. Here’s Elizabeth Nolan Brown for Reason: Officials in Houston, Texas, have voted to require an array of businesses—including bars, convenience stores, and strip clubs—to install surveillance cameras and make footage from them readily available to police. The dystopian move is a transparently unconstitutional attempt by city leaders to circumvent Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches and seizures. To access video from the cameras, police officers will not need ...

Houston Passes Ordinance Forcing Businesses To Install Cameras, Provide Warrantless Access To Recordings

Citing a post-pandemic shutdown surge in violent crime and some other shaky reasoning, the city council of Houston, Texas has decided the time has come to violate the rights of business owners. Her…

www.techdirt.com