Virginia Court Rules: Convicted Sex Offender’s Rights Not Violated By Warrantless GPS Tracking
8 Sep 2010The Virginia Court Of Appeals recently ruled on Tuesday that police who were using a GPS Tracking device on a convicted sex offender’s vehicle without a warrant did not violate the suspect’s rights – see the ruling here.
This latest ruling is in agreement with a Janauary 2010 federal appeals court in California ruling that the tracking of an Oregon man with a GPS tracking device was legal. In 2007, a federal appeals court in Illinois also ruled that warrantless gps tracking did not violate the suspect’s rights. We think that the US Supreme Court will tackle this issue soon.
In the Virginia case, the suspect was ultimately followed by the police (without a gps tracking device), and officer’s witnessed the suspect tackle and drag a woman, in an obvious atttempt to abduct her. The suspect was subsequently arrested and convicted of abduction with intent to defile and sentenced to life in prison.
