Posted on 01/21/2005 11:01:49 AM PST by CrawDaddyCA
Cops without a warrant can secretly attach Global Positioning System devices to a suspect's vehicle, according to a federal judge - who said using the gadgets is virtually the same thing as following a car along a road.
The decision handed down by U.S. Judge David Hurd in upstate Utica last week could give law enforcement officials another high-tech weapon to catch criminals, but is troubling to privacy advocates.
Hurd ruled that Robert (Bugsy) Moran, a Hells Angel member and defense attorney accused of conspiring to distribute methamphetamine, had "no expectation of privacy in the whereabouts of his vehicle on a public roadway."
"Law enforcement personnel could have conducted a visual surveillance of the vehicle as it traveled on the public highways," Hurd wrote.
Assistant U.S. Attorney David Grable, who is prosecuting Moran, strongly backed the ruling.
"Your movements on a highway aren't private," he said. "You don't have a reasonable expectation of privacy, which is a Fourth Amendment test."
But civil liberties advocates said the decision opens the door to increased government surveillance.
Miniature GPS receivers are now available for about $1,000 and can be affixed to the undercarriage of vehicles in minutes.
Hurd's ruling is only binding in his upstate courtroom, said law Prof. Barry Kamins, but other judges will likely consult it.
"It's kinda scary," said Christopher Dunn, associate legal director of the New York City Liberties Union. "If this ruling applied to New York City, the NYPD would be free to go out and attach these devices to cars and track people without any showing of wrongdoing."
In the Laci Peterson murder case, California detectives got court permission to hide the devices on three of Scott Peterson's vehicles. They showed Peterson visited a marina they had searched several times.
Not all judges agree with the most recent federal ruling.
Last year, Nassau County Court Judge Joseph Calabrese said attaching a GPS device to a car amounted to a search and seizure. "At this time, more than ever, individuals must be given the constitutional protections necessary to their continued unfettered freedom from a 'big brother' society," he wrote.
Why would you need a warrant there is no search involved?
Nonsense, if police want to get you they would plant drugs in your car not follow you around electronically. One can fantasize the worst cases but only in that world of fantasy is there anything to worry about.
Registration has the same problem most anti-gun laws have, they are obeyed by the lawabiding. Criminals ignore them.
However, I do not fear registration leads to confiscation.
Honestly, this is getting ridiculous. What is it with these federal judges? They can have McGruff sniff you down at a traffic stop . . . they can slap a GPS transmitter on your car . . . what next? Can they bring you into the station and hook wires up to your nads for going 5 MPH over the speed limit?
Almost time to invest in some lead shower curtains!
The Constitution is designed the way it is because our founding fathers feared government even more than they feared criminals. They even included a way to change it with amendments. Unfortunately, our government thinks like you do. They legislate measures that are directly forbidden by the Bill of Rights without amending. Why are people like you so afraid to just edit or rescind the fourth amendment? Or declare martial law? Those are the only two ways that you can grant government the kind of power the "patriot" act gives it now. And when a democrat administration starts abusing the power regularly, I guarantee you will be here screaming your head off over it.
Even with the cell phone turned off, Its on.and your right. the only way its off is with NO battery power. as far as that, pull the SIM chip/ card out too!
I dont even have a land line much less a cell.
"to invest in some lead shower curtains!"
The tech has been employed for some years now, This was the real reason lead paint went by the wayside By Law. and the equipment works far better then you think.
I take cold showers, they may as well be blind.
Wise of you, but all your computing ends up in that same data base. Your med records are required to be sent in too. Bank transactions, lots of stuff.
That quote was an homily to the king and not a point of fact.
Nothing to hide...
We have the government we allow and deserve.
Yeah, I know...
People need to understand that most cops could give a rat's patute what 99.9% of the population does on any given day. Cops just want to go to work, do the job, and go home. Why would putting a transmitter on a random car give cops any jollies? But let's say you have a convicted child molester or a reasonably suspected kidnapper. Might you want to know where they are headed even if you do not have the manpower to physically follow them 24/7? I would.
Unfortunately for you, the majority of citizens think like I do and are sick of the liberal and libertarian mantras that support criminals.
Yes, the majority of citizens, like you, have no foresight. The majority of citizens, like you, are willing to write their government a blank check as long as it sings the song of safety.
No. We don't. Hell, most people here on FR don't.
You have the wrong site. Most people on FR are not into drugs or libertine tenets.
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