Patrick McCarthy
Supreme Court Ruling Prompts FBI to Turn Off 3,000 Tracking Devices
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is scrambling to comply with the Supreme Court’s recent decision in U.S. v. Jones on warrantless GPS tracking. According to FBI General Counsel Andrew Weissmann, the ruling has caused a “sea change” within the Justice Department, prompting the agency to turn off thousands of tracking devices. The Bureau is also working to create new guidance for field agents on the use of these devices. However, the questions left unanswered by the Court have made this task difficult.
The implications of Justice Alito’s concurrence are particularly troublesome, says Weissmann. The Court held in Jones that the attachment and use of GPS vehicle tracking devices constitutes a search within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment. Unlike the majority, whose reasoning was based on property grounds, Alito focused heavily on the fact that the tracking occurred over the span of almost a month. This indicates that members of the Court are concerned specifically with long-term surveillance. Weissmann and others believe this could lead to questions about the constitutionality of other forms of tracking technology in addition to GPS. Consequently, the Bureau is struggling with how best to advise its agents on compliance with what will likely become a changing area of law.