A bipartisan group of legal experts and former law enforcement officials says limits are necessary on how police can use GPS technology to track suspects. The Constitution Project, a D.C. think tank, on Wednesday issued a report on location-based tracking, writing that a warrant should be required for any GPS tracking that lasts longer than 24 hours. Law enforcement should also be required to obtain a warrant before placing a GPS device on a suspect’s property, such as a vehicle, the report says.
The report comes as the Supreme Court is slated this fall to take up the case of D.C. nightclub owner convicted of operating a cocaine ring. The club owner, Antoine Jones, contends that police infringed on his Fourth Amendment rights by placing a GPS device on his Jeep and monitoring his movements for a month. A federal appeals court agreed and overturned his conviction.
“Law enforcement should be permitted to use these powerful tracking tools, but only where they can demonstrate probable cause and obtain a warrant,” the report says. “If such tracking is not considered to be a search covered by the Fourth Amendment’s warrant requirement, then law enforcement would be permitted to conduct unlimited GPS tracking on anyone, anywhere and could do so for illegitimate reasons or for no reason at all.”
David Cole, a Georgetown University law professor and co-chairman of the report panel, said GPS tracking is a useful tool for investigators, but checks are needed so it’s not abused.
“Today, the government has the technological ability to know where each of us goes at every moment of every day,” he said.
Panel members included former Rep. Bob Barr, R-Ga., former Drug Enforcement Administration chief Asa Hutchinson, former FBI Director William Sessions and former U.S. Attorney for the District Earl Silbert, as well as other lawyers, law professors, judges and security experts.
The Justice Department did not respond to a request for comment on the report. In asking the Supreme Court to hear the Jones case, the department wrote that being required to obtain a warrant before putting a GPS on a suspect’s vehicle would “seriously impede” investigations.
If the high court sides with the government, Congress should pass legislation requiring warrants, the report said.
