Posted on 05/10/2009 7:57:22 AM PDT by mtrott
MADISON, Wis. - Wisconsin police can attach GPS to cars to secretly track anybody's movements without obtaining search warrants, an appeals court ruled Thursday.
However, the District 4 Court of Appeals said it was "more than a little troubled" by that conclusion and asked Wisconsin lawmakers to regulate GPS use to protect against abuse by police and private individuals.
As the law currently stands, the court said police can mount GPS on cars to track people without violating their constitutional rights -- even if the drivers aren't suspects.
Officers do not need to get warrants beforehand because GPS tracking does not involve a search or a seizure, Judge Paul Lundsten wrote for the unanimous three-judge panel based in Madison.
(Excerpt) Read more at chicagotribune.com ...
Shouldn't be. It's the future many FReepers support... for others.
Any infringement of a right without due process is the eventual kiss of death to that right. And we've been infringing all over the place, whether it's 1st Amendment, 2nd Amendment, etc.
America -- a great idea, didn't last.
Bingo!!!
Not really. But you can do much to help protect them from the environment by wrapping them in tinfoil.
Don't worry. They'll only do this if you're on the recently publiched DHS "persons of interest" listing.
-—tell it to the judge—
All I have are Rare Earth 8-tracks. Will those work?
Don't worry. They'll only do this if you're on the recently publiched DHS "persons of interest" listing. Only 70% of the citizenry will be directly affected.
—not if the “Denver Boot” precedent holds—
The boot is placed on a vehicle because some offense, usually parking, has been committed. This GPS ruling covers people who have not done anything wrong. Think of the opportunities for political abuse.
If I saw an unknown device attached to my car, I'd probably keep people back from the area, and call 9-1-1 and the state or federal Terrorist Tip Line about the suspected explosive device on my car. Maybe they'd evacuate the area....I hope not too many people would be inconvenienced.
My identity is known to those who have committed violent crimes in the past and might consider me someone to eliminate; a business colleague was once the victim of arson while he was in his house asleep, based on his political views (similar to mine). If it turned out to just be a police GPS, then there would be attention drawn to this issue.
I can understand the claim that this is no different from tailing a suspect or non-suspect, but the abuse potential is great. I think this oversteps the bounds.
In the book “Black Mass” (about Whitey Bulger) the MA state police were using movement on and off toll highways back in the 1980’s to track a suspect’s travels - way before GPS was in use like it is today.
“The tracking did not violate constitutional protections because the device only gave police information that could have been obtained through visual surveillance, Lundsten wrote.”
Uh huh. Now THAT my friends is some ivory tower judiciating. Let’s pretend they were going to follow him 24 hours a day for five weeks, filming it the whole time, he’d never catch on, overtime is free, and they have at least three cars and either three or six officers available just for him. And as many as they need for any arbitrary number of people they might want to follow at the same time.
Rental car companies do it, so if they are required to pay out, they can just point to where you exceeded a speed limit and thereby broke the contract.
However, the District 4 Court of Appeals said it was "more than a little troubled" by that conclusion and asked Wisconsin lawmakers to regulate GPS use to protect against abuse by police and private individuals.
Just tell the courts you were going to get an abortion, and they'll strike this down.
-PJ
They keep me safe & S O U N D !
In the "old" days at the Jersey shore you could buy bootlegs of "concerts" , I still have and listen (priceless recordings of the big stars in little clubs).
btw- this is all legal preamble for the insurance company thingy("all your companies belong to U.S.").
At least be creative here. Mount it on someone's car that you do not like or maybe put it on a collar on a stray cat.............
this is a two way street then (excuse the pun) - Our police chief in a nearby town is thought to be corrupt....a gps attached to his car is fair game then
I’m going to quibble with you on that for exactly the reason I mentioned.
“We discern no privacy interest protected by the Fourth Amendment that is invaded when police attach a device to the outside of a vehicle, as long as the information obtained is the same as could be gained by the use of other techniques that do not require a warrant,” he wrote.”
I say that, due to economics at least, there are NO “other techniques” available to determine where a certain car has been every second of the day for an indefinite period of time.
As an earlier poster asked, how much of a step is it to be forced to wear one on your ankle, because by the same reasoning they could be following you “in person” every time you walk out your front door.
yah, and the folks who get too close to my company truck when it is plugged in suddenly become better drivers because their phones stop working. :-)
The only thing keeping us from being under surveillance 24/7 is the cost in man hours of doing so. Technology is rapidly removing that barrier.
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