Feds Won't Challenge Ruling That Says It Needs A Warrant To Put GPS Devices On Cars... For Now
from the but-we'll-see-if-that-stays dept
Back in October, we wrote about the Third Circuit appeals court ruling that attaching a GPS device to someone's car required a warrant. While the Justice Department is now challenging the part of that decision which said that the evidence obtained via the warrantless GPS use must be sustained (the government is arguing for a "good faith exception" to let it use the information under the belief that it was collected legally -- basically saying if they knew it required a warrant they would have gotten one), it has decided to not challenge the larger point that a warrant is needed to attach a GPS device to a car. That's good news, but it's only a little bit of good news.The government does say that it "respectfully disagrees with the Court's requirement of a warrant to install and use a GPS device" but isn't seeking a review of that ruling. That, most likely, means that it's just waiting for another court to rule on the matter in a different circuit (and hoping for a better outcome) and can pit those two circuits against each other in a Supreme Court review. So, basically, it's just avoiding the issue for the time being.
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Does anyone here believe the Feds will actually start now? Look for them to come up with another loophole to not have to abide by the courts ruling.
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Hmm, I wonder wherever they would manage to find a court that approves almost every single surveillance request put in front of them, plays fast and loose with legal wording to allow far more than any sane person would think is reasonable, and is used to making decisions based entirely on what little data they are handed?
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Rules for Feds?
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No big deal
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All newer cars already have a GPS tracker
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Re: All newer cars already have a GPS tracker
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Are there other cases pending? Or are they just going to ignore this ruling and wait until they are caught again for the next case? That isn't avoiding. It is ignoring.
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Good faith
If some molecular sniffer thing is developed that can track you from the traces of scent you leave behind as you travel, we shouldn't have a period of time when law enforcement considers it fair game until Congress and the courts actually look at it and saw "you need a warrant for that".
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They Don't Need It
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