Michael C. Rosenblat Criminal Law Blog on Lawyers.com

GPS Tracking and the 4th Amendment

Friday, January 27, 2012 by Michael C. Rosenblat

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In United States v. Jones, 2012 U.S. LEXIS 1063* (January
23, 2012), the Supreme Court addresses the question of whether the installation
of a GPS tracking device is a search under the 4th Amendment.





In Jones, a GPS tracking device was installed on a
car being driven by Jones and monitored his movement for four weeks.  All members of the Court agreed that the
installation and monitoring of defendant’s car by GPS was a violation of the 4th
Amendment, but the Court did so in three separate opinions. 





The majority opinion held that the installation of the GPS
was a trespass to an “effect” as the term is used in the 4th Amendment
and found that the government physically occupied the property of defendant in
order to obtain information about the defendant.  The Court went on to state that it did not
have to engage in a reasonable expectation of privacy analysis because the
trespass disposed of the issue.





In the concurring opinion the court focused on the
reasonable expectation of privacy articulated in Katz v. United States,
389 US 347 (1967), and also found a violation of the 4th Amendment.



 
Posted at 13:19 PM
Topic: Criminal Law
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