Comments on: SCOTUS: Police Placing GPS Tracking Device on a Vehicle Without Warrant Violates the Fourth Amendment [or Does it?]

By: Stephen Littau

Stephen Littau — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 21:57:18 +0000

Thanks Doug! I haven’t had a chance to read over the opinion; I’m sure there is much more to the case than the news articles are reporting. Volokh’s take would be a great place to start.

By: Police Placing GPS Tracking Device on a Vehicle Without Warrant Violates the Fourth Amendment - Death Rattle Sports | Death Rattle Sports

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 21:41:19 +0000

[...] find a nut once in awhile and in even rarer cases, 9 Supreme Court Justices. The Liberty Papers. View original post.SHARE IT Tweet REGISTER NOW! Users must be logged in for immediate display. We will review & post [...]

By: Doug Mataconis

Doug Mataconis — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 20:11:51 +0000

The media is not reporting this decision entirely accurately, or at least not reporting what it means for future cases accurately. I think all you can really say is that, under circumstances of this case, the Court found that the use of the tracking device without a warrant was impermissible. As the majority opinion notes, however, the Government attempted to raise in their arguments to the Supreme Court the theory that the search was supported by reasonable suspicion and/or probable cause to believe that Jones was the leader of a drug gang. Under such a theory, the use of the tracking device would have theoretically been justified even without a warrant. The Court held that because this argument had not been raised in the Court of Appeals, or indeed at the District Court level, it was waived on appeal and the Court would not consider it. I refer you to the brief note from Orin Kerr at The Volokh Conspiracy entitled "What Jones Does Not Hold"