January 23, 2012 · 11:56 am

Big decision on civil rights

Reader AJ alerts me that the Supreme Court has just ruled, 9-0, that police need a warrant before tracking citizens with GPS devices. I’d expected this to be decided by a split-decision, one way or the other. Nine-to-zero is as firm a rejection of this intrusion as one could hope for. TSA body searches next?

11 Comments

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11 responses to “Big decision on civil rights”

  1. Peter Alexander
    January 23, 2012 at 12:09 pm

    RINOs & DEMOS are running scared
    60’s replay or Republican sequel to ’68 ?
    Is it true you bought Bonnie’s guns ?
    She never should have let Clyde use them….

  3. Nathan Hale
    January 23, 2012 at 12:46 pm

    The Justices ruled that GPS tracking by a device attached to a Jeep is a search. Law doesn’t keep up with technology here very well, since the cell phone companies track every cell phone that is turned on – 24/7, wherever it goes, and wherever it leads Big Brother. But of course, you have to be dumb as a criminal to have a cell phone in the first place.

    • Chris Fountain
      January 23, 2012 at 12:49 pm

      A couple of the concurring opinions wanted to expand the decision to look at the cellphone issue but obviously couldn’t get enough votes to do so – these folks do like to decide just the case before them so I’m not surprised that they didn’t go there. That issue is bound to crop up soon, though.

  4. Richard
    January 23, 2012 at 12:51 pm

    There have been a lot of convictions in NYC based on Metrocard records of when and where someone was taking the subway. Easypass records establish time and place too.

  5. AJ
    January 23, 2012 at 1:09 pm

    Cell phones: I could be wrong, but I believe they would have to get your number first before they can track you — probably not to hard because cell phone call records can be easily illegally purchased. Second: you have to have your phone turned on before it can be tracked. Third: you can buy one of those “anonymous” phones that can be loaded with minutes at a convenience store.
    A bigger concern for me is the RFID debit cards and credit cards — of course you can buy protective sleeves. But what concerns me the most is the making of cash illegal such as in Louisiana and Itally, but even scarier is what’s happening in India on their path towards a cashless society: http://singularityhub.com/2010/09/13/india-launches-universal-id-system-with-biometrics/

  6. Anonymous
    January 23, 2012 at 1:41 pm

    only 9 members of the court.

  7. Richard
    January 23, 2012 at 2:29 pm

    AJ – everytime I get an RFID credit card I call the bank and tell them to send me a new one without the RFID chip embedded. They always have.

  8. AJ
    January 23, 2012 at 3:36 pm

    Richard, we have tried that here in Canada and failed.

  9. AJ
    January 23, 2012 at 3:45 pm

    No, CF there are only two kinds: “There are two kinds of people in the world, those with loaded guns, and those who dig. You dig.” — Blondie “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly”