Daniel lives in a rural town located in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts on 200 acres of land that includes a house, a greenhouse, and a large garden. The greenhouse is located about 15 feet from the house, and a covered walkway connects the house to the greenhouse. Daniel grows a variety of vegetables in his greenhouse and garden. He also grows marijuana in his greenhouse for recreational use. To expose the plants in the greenhouse to the direct rays of the sun, the southfacing side of the greenhouse does not have a wall. The remaining three sides have walls and the greenhouse has a transparent plastic roof. A series of bushes planted in front of the south side of the green house prevents anyone walking or driving past Daniel’s house from seeing the contents of the greenhouse. Based on a tip, agents from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) decided to drive past Daniel’s house to determine if they could spot marijuana plants growing on Daniel’s property. Because of the large number of bushes planted around Daniel’s garden and greenhouse, the agents were unable to determine what types of plants were growing on Daniel’s property. Rather than obtaining a search warrant to inspect Daniel’s garden and greenhouse, the DEA agents used one of their drones to conduct a surveillance of Daniel’s property. During the first pass over Daniel’s property, the agents noticed that the south-facing side of the greenhouse was open. During the second pass, the agents guided the drone to fly very close to the exposed south side of the greenhouse, which enabled them to identify and photograph three marijuana plants growing inside Daniel’s greenhouse. The agents arrested Daniel for violating relevant sections of the Controlled Substances Act of 1970.
Discussion Questions

a. Did the DEA agents violate Daniel’s Fourth Amendment rights when they flew a drone over his property without a search warrant to obtain evidence about the growing of marijuana plants on his property, thus leading to his arrest?

b. What role does federalism play in allowing Daniel to grow three marijuana plants legally under Massachusetts state law, while yet allowing DEA agents to arrest Daniel under federal law?