The unreasonableness (or not) of GPS.

• Author: Williams, Rich
• Position: TRENDS & TRANSITIONS - Global positioning systems - Brief article

Modem technology used by law enforcement investigators poses new legal questions for state officials, particularly whether its use complies with the Fourth Amendment's ban on "unreasonable searches and seizures."

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More and more police departments, for example, are using Global Positioning Systems, which can track suspects and give detailed information about their movements anywhere on Earth. Some law enforcement agencies even have ballistic capabilities to fire and stick the device on getaway cars to track them without engaging in dangerous chases.

In January, in United States v. Jones, the U.S. Supreme Court held that gathering data through a GPS tracking device on a suspect's car, even while on public streets, is a "search" as defined under the Fourth Amendment. The court, however, did not address whether the search was reasonable under the circumstances. Police in this case had a search warrant, but the search was conducted outside its geographic area and the time flame of the warrant.

The physical intrusion of the...