Surveillance camera 4-6' OVER my privacy fence w/ view of a room in my house, legal?

[MojoBuc2]

we have some whacked out neighbors. it is a looong story but the short version is the wife decided one day that any disputes between our familes could not be settled between her husnad and myself. They were done talking and "war" was declared. They didn't like me playing catch (baseball or football) with my son all of a sudden in fear we may hit on of their cars. 3 years we've he is now 12, and we NEVER hittheir crs. Balls did roll onto their lawn/ driveway ,yes.
Anyway one day she video taped my son and 2 of his friends and they told us. We confronted her and she denied it but we came to a LOUD conclusion we would stop playing baseball if they would slow down past our house as we played, as they always sped by.
A week passed and they put up a camera. direct mostly to my front yard, to "watch us" and the speeding started again. We had words, the husband and I and he threatened to beat me down and "gouge out my one good eye (i lost 1 as a kid) I pretty much laughed it off, cuz A- i don't want to lose my good eye, B-I am not going to jail for this crackhead. anyway, the wife started harrassing my wife, calling her names and threats. So I put up my own camera in my front yard to watch them and this ended the threats and name calling for a couple of days. They called out you guys. Officer agreed with me that mine was not violating their privacy as it show nothing but what a person can see from the street. They were not happy, flipping off my camera and more thrat, which aren ot illegal here in florida. 2 days later they erected a camera a good 12-15 ft in the air, oVE my fence and at night we can see the infra red from my back den window, and if it is like ours, that means your in the filed of vision.
We called the police and the guy said there is no law against them looking into our home, "same as a commercial building with cmaeras" I didn't agree so called the code enforcment and they had no ordinance. called the state attorney and they also said, it sounds like there should be, but don't beleive there is.

My question: do any of you know of any stae laws that I may use to get this thing down?
It seems as it is an invasion of privacy, peeping, tresspassing and just freakin weird.
Seems most normal people wouldn't do such a thing as to be labeled a pervert or something, but as i said, these peole are not normal and don't care.

And yes that isthe short version.

[MojoBuc2]

i didn't clarify, I'm 44 he is roughly 35. 15 years ago I would have beat the guy, 20-25 years ago, I probably would have beat him near death as I had a temper and really didn't think I had anything to live for as I was told I would be blind by 30, thankfully my wife saved my life as we dated from about the age of 25 and married at 30.
Now, I am not that guy anymore, I love my life, love my family and am very protective of them. I'll never be financially over abundant, but I make enough.

[retdetsgt]

If you called the police and they said there is no law against it, then I doubt there is. Why would you think we would know more about your local laws than they do?

I would contact an attorney. This seems to be a civil matter between the two of you. At least so far.

[Creeker]

PLant a tree in the way of the camera.

Erect a tent or a sail. Maybe a large enough windmill.

Turn on an infrared spotlight at night aimed at his camera... maybe it doesn't even need to be infrared... practice with your camera.

One of you has to be the adult in this High School Testosterone Contest.

[Sgt. Slaughter]

If you called the police and they said there is no law against it, then I doubt there is. Why would you think we would know more about your local laws than they do?

I would contact an attorney. This seems to be a civil matter between the two of you. At least so far.

Might be worth it to pay an attorney write them a letter threatening a lawsuit over their invasion of your privacy. Depending on the civil laws of your state, of course.

Cops deal with criminal stuff, not civil (generally).

[CCBlueMan]

Civil matter, no police can't help you. Contact a lawyer.

Or just follow Creeker's advice, He's had the best info yet!

PLant a tree in the way of the camera.

Erect a tent or a sail. Maybe a large enough windmill.

Turn on an infrared spotlight at night aimed at his camera... maybe it doesn't even need to be infrared... practice with your camera.

One of you has to be the adult in this High School Testosterone Contest.

[MojoBuc2]

retdetsgt, I asked as I was hoping one of you had answered a similar complaint
and found a solution without spending more money on a lawyer.
Thanks for replying and thanls to the rest of you as well.
It just seems it should be criminal, as if this ever gets out, whats to stop a
guy from puting up his own camera and watching his neighbors wife, teenaged
daughter or even children? It just seems so wrong.. but I guess if they want to
watch, they can watch me scratch my naked hairy butt while I sit on my computer.

[retdetsgt]

retdetsgt, I asked as I was hoping one of you had answered a similar complaint
and found a solution without spending more money on a lawyer.

If I had gotten a phone call or call on this kind of problem, I'd have given them the same info you got.

It just seems it should be criminal, as if this ever gets out, whats to stop a
guy from puting up his own camera and watching his neighbors wife, teenaged
daughter or even children?

Curtains.

[MojoBuc2]

not for nothing, but why do I need to close my curtains when I already have a
privacy fence for just that reason? i like the sunshine. What I am going with is a violation of my 4th amendment:

When the Fourth Amendment Applies.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Like the rest of the Bill of Rights, the Fourth Amendment originally only applied in federal court. However, in Wolf v. Colorado, 338 U.S. 25 (1949), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the rights guaranteed by the text of the Fourth Amendment (sans the exclusionary rule to be discussed below) apply equally in state courts via the Fourteenth Amendment, which guarantees to the citizen of every state the right to due process and equal protection of the laws. The process by which the Supreme Court has made certain fundamental liberties protected by the Bill of Rights applicable to the states is known as the doctrine of incorporation.

Not every search and seizure that is scrutinized in state and federal court raises a Fourth Amendment issue. The Fourth Amendment only protects against searches and seizures conducted by the government or pursuant to governmental direction. Surveillance and investigatory actions taken by strictly private persons, such as private investigators, suspicious spouses, or nosey neighbors, are not governed by the Fourth Amendment. However, Fourth Amendment concerns do arise when those same actions are taken by a law enforcement official or a private person working in conjunction with law enforcement.

The Fourth Amendment does not apply even against governmental action unless defendants first establish that they had a reasonable expectation of privacy in the place to be searched or the thing to be seized. The Supreme Court has explained that what "a person knowingly exposes to the public, even in his own home or office, is not a subject of Fourth Amendment protection ... " But what he seeks to preserve as private, even in an area accessible to the public, may be constitutionally protected (see Katz v. United States, 389 U.S. 347 [1967]).

Applying this principle, the Supreme Court has ruled that individuals generally maintain a reasonable expectation of privacy in their bodies, clothing, and personal belongings. Homeowners possess a privacy interest that extends inside their homes and in the curtilage immediately surrounding the outside of their homes, but not in the "open fields" and "wooded areas" extending beyond the curtilage (see Hester v. United States, 265 U.S. 57 [1924])

In law, curtilage is the enclosed area of land around a dwelling.[1] It is distinct from the dwelling by virtue of lacking a roof, but distinct from the area outside the enclosure in that it is enclosed within a wall or barrier of some sort.

It is typically treated as being legally coupled with the dwelling it surrounds despite the fact that it might commonly be considered "outdoors".

[Safety Steve]

I think the best advice you got was from both Sgt's and Creeker. .

Be Safe.

[Curt581]

Did you not read your own post, where it said:

"The Fourth Amendment only protects against searches and seizures conducted by the government or pursuant to governmental direction".

Since this involves the actions of a private individual, the 4th Amendment does not apply.

[Citicop]

Mojo-

Did you even read the whole of the text that you posted? Let me direct you to a specific area of it:

When the Fourth Amendment Applies.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Not every search and seizure that is scrutinized in state and federal court raises a Fourth Amendment issue. The Fourth Amendment only protects against searches and seizures conducted by the government or pursuant to governmental direction. Surveillance and investigatory actions taken by strictly private persons, such as private investigators, suspicious spouses, or nosey neighbors, are not governed by the Fourth Amendment.

This is not a 4th Amendment issue. The 4th Amendment applies to intrusions into the privacy of citizens by the government. Unless your neighbor is running an active government investigation on you, you don't have a Constitutional issue here at all, you have a civil matter, as you have been told by several other people.

I'm sorry that it's not the answer you wanted, but it's the only one you are going to get.

-Citicop.

[retdetsgt]

I'm sorry that it's not the answer you wanted, but it's the only one you are going to get.

Don't ya just hate it when that happens?

Look, I live in a one story house. My neighbor's house is two story with the back facing mine. He can look from his house right into mine. The solution? I planted a couple of trees strategically where it blocks his view.

If he wanted to put a camera on his property facing mine, there is nothing I can do about it. But then again, I try to get along with my neighbors and not have pissing matches with them.

[CCBlueMan]

The Fourth Amendment only protects against searches and seizures conducted by the government or pursuant to governmental direction. Surveillance and investigatory actions taken by strictly private persons, such as private investigators, suspicious spouses, or nosey neighbors, are not governed by the Fourth Amendment.

The entire 4th Amendment applies to you, not just the sections you choose to read. As I said before, this is a civil matter, criminal law does not apply. Get yourself a lawyer and sue cin civil court.

[Creeker]

Curtains and blinds ad value to a home and keep it cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter.

Common sense.

And as others have said, the entire Bill of Rights was written to limit Governments action against the People & has nothing to do with person vs person.