The US Supreme Court ruled on Monday that police violated the Constitution by using a GPS device to track a suspect's car without a valid search warrant.
United States versus Jones
The police installed a GPS device on a Jeep Grand Cherokee used extensively by Jones, a suspected drug dealer. Police then tracked Jones using the data gathered from the GPS device. The information gathered by the GPS lead to evidence that played a key role in the conviction of Jones on conspiracy to distribute cocaine.
The case of United States v. Jones (docket 10-1259) was the Court’s first look at the Fourth Amendment implications of police use of the Global Positioning System devices.
Recent Delaware and New Jersey cases
We were anxiously awaiting the Supreme Court decision as we had covered several cases in recent months in our region on the use of technology in crime fighting.
The Washington, DC, case was very similar to a Delaware case where police used a GPS tracking device to follow the movements of a Delaware drug suspect. The case of Delaware v. Michael D. Holden revolves around a drug suspect who was was tracked using a GPS device for more than 20 days by police without a warrant.
The ruling in that case was similar to today's US Supreme court decision. The court ruling threw out as evidence a duffel bag full of marijuana because the GPS was used without a warrant. The judge ruled on the side of privacy.
In a New Jersey case the court ruled a wife can use GPS to track cheating husband. The information from the GPS tracking device was used by the private investigator to catch the cheating husband with another woman.
The wife put a GPS tracking device in the glove compartment of vehicle which they both owned but was primarily driven by husband. The court ruled against the plaintiff in this case, the cheating husband, stating that the use of GPS tracking in this case was not an invasion of privacy.
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