# Superman's X-ray vision: needs a search warrant? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [March 18, 2006, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supermans-x-ray-vision-needs-a-search-warrant/348917 "2006-03-18T18:03:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2006, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supermans-x-ray-vision-needs-a-search-warrant/348917/21 "2006-03-19T01:47:29Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > here’s one [answer](http://prfamerica.org/US_supreme_court_sides_with_privacy_rts.html) > > in this case, superman (well, the police actually)used x-ray vision,(well, infra-red actually) to look through walls. They detected heat lamps, which they considered a probable cause to to ask a local court for a search warrant. They then entered the house and arrested the owner for marijuana possession. Local courts upheld it, but the Supreme court rejected the arrest, as a violation of privacy rights. The ruling stated that certain technological advances are okay but others are not.For example, airplanes may be used to look over a wall into private areas, but eavesdropping devices may not be used to listen through that same wall. Superman’s abilities are biological, not technological. Therefore, they fall into the same classification as keen hearing, or good night vision in a regular Human. He is not making a special effort to invade someone’s home. He is glancing through a wall, just as an ordinary cop may peek through a window, to see if a crime is going on. ---
**Author:** ![Otara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a88e4f/32.png) [@Otara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otara)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2006, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supermans-x-ray-vision-needs-a-search-warrant/348917/22 "2006-03-19T12:24:10Z")
Well firstly you’d have to figure out how the heck his ‘X-ray’ vision works anyhow. Then you’d have to catch him doing it in a specific situation ie have some kind of detector made and then have it on site when hes uh perpetrating. If hes just using passive detection rather than some kind of beam from his eyes thingie that could get really difficult. Arrest might be a tad tricky as well. Otara ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supermans-x-ray-vision-needs-a-search-warrant/348917/23 "2006-03-20T04:13:35Z")
I could be wrong, but I think Supe’s powers aren’t on constantly; he has to concentrate to hear something normal people can’t, he has to focus to use X-ray vision, and so on. I’m pretty sure Superman has never been an official part of the police force, although you could argue that the JSA and JLA (and Avengers, and Authority, and so on) are quasi-policing entities. ---
**Author:** ![Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bc8723/32.png) [@Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supermans-x-ray-vision-needs-a-search-warrant/348917/24 "2006-03-20T12:30:39Z")
I don’t follow Superman comics, but there is a scene in “Dark Knight Returns” where it’s pretty much suggested that the President gives Superman a direct order to go kick a just and due amount of ass. Naturally Superman would do it if the President (or the police) asked, but it would be sort of an _unofficial_ Presidential order rather than an official one. The legality of the government using Superman to do an end-run around the 4th Amendment is a little shaky, in my opinion; I’m not sure how that stands. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supermans-x-ray-vision-needs-a-search-warrant/348917/25 "2006-03-20T14:50:45Z")
1. The police cannot evade the warrant requirement by hiring private citizens, or even by convincing private citizens to work for them out of the goodness of their heart. Whenever a private citizen acts as an agent for the police, the warrant requirement will apply. 2. If Superman is not acting as an agent of the police, I’d ask Mr. Luthor to identify precisely what laws Superman is violating by his mere use of x-ray vision and super hearing. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supermans-x-ray-vision-needs-a-search-warrant/348917/26 "2006-03-20T14:54:13Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > here’s one [answer](http://prfamerica.org/US_supreme_court_sides_with_privacy_rts.html) > > in this case, superman (well, the police actually)used x-ray vision,(well, infra-red actually) to look through walls. They detected heat lamps, which they considered a probable cause to to ask a local court for a search warrant. They then entered the house and arrested the owner for marijuana possession. Local courts upheld it, but the Supreme court rejected the arrest, as a violation of privacy rights. The ruling stated that certain technological advances are okay but others are not.For example, airplanes may be used to look over a wall into private areas, but eavesdropping devices may not be used to listen through that same wall. I would interpret this precedent to mean that superpowers that require active “turning on” would be distinguished from those that are work all the time without any specific intent to activate them. That said, another wrinkle is that private citizens are not bound by the same rules as state agents (on the other hand, private citizens have more personal legal liability for their actions). Thus, one’s recourse against illegal search might be suppression or evidence, or it might be a lawsuit against the illegal searcher, depending on whether or not the searcher was acting under official sanction. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supermans-x-ray-vision-needs-a-search-warrant/348917/27 "2006-03-20T14:58:17Z")
> [@Fish](#): > > it seems as if that would violate the spirit of the Fourth Amendment if the government could simply hire people to do what they themselves cannot[/size] If the government **hired** him, then he’d be a state agent. (Of course, the government might do the hiring under the table – Supes is too straight-arrow to go along with that, but others with the needed abilities could be found.) ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supermans-x-ray-vision-needs-a-search-warrant/348917/28 "2006-03-20T15:06:52Z")
Could the police use a tip supplied by Superman to establish probable cause for a warrant? ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supermans-x-ray-vision-needs-a-search-warrant/348917/29 "2006-03-20T15:31:02Z")
> [@cmkeller](#): > > Could the police use a tip supplied by Superman to establish probable cause for a warrant? He eye-witnessed a crime. _How_ he did is irrelevant. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/supermans-x-ray-vision-needs-a-search-warrant/348917.md?page=1)