Judge strikes down warrantless Flock search tied to southwest Missouri woman after 91lbs of meth seized

A federal judge in Tulsa has ruled that law enforcement violated the constitutional rights of a southwest Missouri woman by searching a nationwide network of automated license plate cameras without a warrant.

U.S. District Judge Sara E. Hill ruled that a deputy conducted an unconstitutional search when he used Flock Safety and another automated license plate reader system to investigate the movements of 46-year-old Melisa Susan Kyle, of Crane.

The ruling resulted in the suppression of evidence obtained after the database search, including roughly 91 pounds of methamphetamine authorities said they later found inside the vehicle Kyle was driving.

Kyle was indicted in May on a federal charge.

According to the court, a Tulsa County deputy who was also serving on a Drug Enforcement Administration task force was parked along Interstate 44 when he noticed Kyle driving a Mazda SUV with a California license plate.

Hill wrote that the deputy began following the SUV "for no apparent reason" other than its California plate and entered the plate number into automated license plate reader databases.

The search produced more than 50 records documenting the vehicle's movements across several states over roughly a month.

The records showed the SUV had traveled toward the California-Arizona border before heading back toward Missouri, which the deputy believed could indicate drug trafficking.

The deputy later stopped Kyle for alleged traffic violations. Authorities said a subsequent search of the vehicle uncovered approximately 91 pounds of methamphetamine and $7,000 in cash.

Hill found that searching the accumulated location history without a warrant crossed a constitutional line.

"Why is it the government's business where everyone goes all the time?" Hill wrote.

The judge described the technology as a form of "indiscriminate mass surveillance," distinguishing a single camera recording a vehicle traveling on a public road from a database capable of reconstructing weeks of a person's movements.

The ruling does not declare Flock cameras themselves unconstitutional and does not create a nationwide precedent. It applies to the search conducted in Kyle's case, and Flock has said it expects the decision to be appealed.