Supreme Court Rules Warrant Needed for GPS Tracking

On January 23, 2012, the United States Supreme Court ruled that the police must get a search warrant before using GPS technology to track criminal suspects. This decision will make it much more difficult for government and police agencies to track suspects, because it routinely relies on such technology in effort to arrest and prosecute suspects.

In its opinion, the Supreme Court indicated that the installation of a GPS device on a suspect’s vehicle constitutes a search under the Fourth Amendment and therefore a warrant is a necessity. The Fourth Amendment protects citizens against unreasonable searches and seizures and mandates that a warrant must be obtained except in special circumstances.

All nine Supreme Court Justices agreed that the GPS monitoring of a vehicle violated the Fourth Amendment when it is done without a warrant. While this decision will certainly create complications for police agencies, groups like the American Civil Liberties Union said the decision was an “important victory for privacy.”