Technology continues to advance, but the law cannot always keep up with it. One of the biggest areas of controversy involves tracking devices, such as global positioning system (GPS) and cell phone locators, to conduct surveillance in criminal investigations.
While many courts have given their blessings to these devices, others are troubled and believe that such surveillance violates privacy rights and the Fourth Amendment. Now, it appears that the issue may be headed to the U.S. Supreme Court. On April 15, acting Solicitor General Neal Katyal petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court for review of U.S. v. Maynard, petition sub nom, U.S. v. Jones, a landmark decision striking down the warrantless use of GPS devices to conduct round-the-clock surveillance of suspects’ vehicles.
