Last year, the Supreme Court ruled that the government cannot conduct open-ended surveillance of American citizens’ movements through covert GPS tracking without an actual warrant from a real judge. The ruling forced the FBI to shut down thousands of ongoing surveillance schemes.
The Obama Administration is set to try to reclaim that power in an appellate court, arguing that such surveillance is “necessary” for the ongoing war on terrorism, and that the previous Supreme Court ruling is no valid.
The administration has filed a brief (pdf) to that end, arguing that being subject to constant surveillance of their location has a “minimal” effect on Americans’ privacy, and that “probable cause” is an unreasonable standard to hold police to in attaching surveillance devices to cars.
The ACLU is arguing against warrantless tracking, warning that as GPS devices get cheaper and more convenient for police to use the devices are simply going to be deployed everywhere, on any pretext. Administration officials don’t seem to be arguing that point so much as insisting it is vital that they do so.
It costs $80 to do a full search of your car for a GPS device. My goodness how the government tends toward evil as if it was controlled by the devil.
"The Obama Administration is set to try to reclaim that power in an appellate court…"
They never had the power in the first place – the Supreme Court told the FBI to stop acting illegally.
"…arguing that being subject to constant surveillance of their location has a “minimal” effect on Americans’ privacy, and that “probable cause” is an unreasonable standard to hold police to…"
Simply astonishing.
I have no cell phone, no pager, no iPad- short of implanting a chip under my skin I'm not exactly sure how I'm going to be tracked by GPS by anyone. They can track my car all they want; it sits in the same spot every day and I drive it maybe once a week if even that much.
That brings up another point- when people realize their own gadgets are going to be used against them you can bet they will stop using them- and then the industry for those devices tanks and jobs are lost and …. you get the general idea.
He needs to track you via GPS without a warrant because he doesn't need a warrant to blow you up with a drone.
The legal seas are getting quite choppy for Capt. "O" and his orchestra of merry legal pranksters…… Every day there's a new attack on "O" and crew as they have becum sccostomed to treat the laws like suggestions and not red lines for THEM. It's been quite a run of legal complaints from the Federal Bench… The unanimous verdict by the the Ninth Circuit that the CIA can't plead STUPID on drones; And Judge Susan Illston of the Northern District of California would bar the issuance of national security letters — a form of administrative subpoena — on constitutional grounds. The "O" crew better trim their sails on Constitutional infringement soon before their entire legal edifice founders on the rocks of fascist over-reach…!!!!!
The legal seas are getting quite choppy for Capt. "O" and his orchestra of merry legal pranksters…… Every day there's a new attack on "O" and crew as they have becum accostomed to treat the laws like suggestions and not red lines for THEM. It's been quite a run of legal complaints from the Federal Bench… The unanimous verdict by the the Ninth Circuit that the CIA can't plead STUPID on drones; And Judge Susan Illston of the Northern District of California would bar the issuance of national security letters — a form of administrative subpoena — on constitutional grounds. The "O" crew better trim their sails on Constitutional infringement soon before their entire legal edifice founders on the rocks of fascist over-reach…!!!!!