Quote:
Originally Posted by Moonliner
In a related issue, the Supreme Court today ruled that a warrant is needed in order for police to place a GPS tracker on your vehicle.
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As far as I can tell, it didn't say that. It said that attaching and using GPS is a search and therefore 4th Amendment jurisprudence applies. Further caselaw will potentially determine when and if a warrant is required (not all searches require warrants).
The opinion explicitly mentions that it takes no position on an argument that probable cause is sufficient for planting a GPS unit without a warrant since that argument was never made in the lower courts before being argued at the Supreme Court. In practical terms I imagine it accomplishes the same thing, but technically the requirements for a warrant haven't been addressed.
Also they mention that tracking that doesn't require trespass is a different question.
But Alito gets kind of testy in his concurrence so enjoy reading it for that.