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Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Courts - NY high court rules police need warrants for GPS trackers
Michael Virtanen reports for the AP:
ALBANY, N.Y. - New York's top court ruled Tuesday that police cannot place GPS trackers on suspects' vehicles without first getting a court warrant showing probable cause that the drivers are up to no good.The Court of Appeals split 4-3 on the issue, with the majority saying the tracker that state police planted on Scott Weaver's van for 65 days starting in 2005 violated his constitutional protections against unreasonable searches.
The ruling overturned both the trial court and a midlevel appeals court. Weaver has been free on bail.
"The massive invasion of privacy entailed by the prolonged use of the GPS device was inconsistent with even the slightest reasonable expectation of privacy," Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman wrote. * * *
Weaver was convicted of burglary based in part on GPS data that showed him in a suburban Albany department store parking lot before a break-in. He will get a new trial with that information excluded.
Lawyers on both sides said the ruling establishes case law in New York and won't be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court because the decision was made under the state constitution. Its provision against unreasonable searches and seizures generally mirrors that of the U.S. Constitution.
State courts in Oregon and Washington have rejected police use of GPS without a warrant under their constitutions. Some federal courts have upheld warrantless GPS use.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on May 12, 2009 03:34 PM
Posted to Courts in general