Supreme Court appears troubled by police use of GPS tracking without warrants

The Supreme Court expressed deep reservations about police use of GPS technology to track criminal suspects without a warrant. But the justices appeared unsettled about how or whether to regulate GPS tracking, and whether they should look at other high-tech surveillance techniques in resolving this case.

The court heard arguments in the Obama administration’s appeal of a court ruling that threw out a drug conspiracy conviction against Antoine Jones. FBI agents and local police did not have a valid search warrant when they installed a GPS device on Jones’ car and collected travel information. The justices were taken aback when the lawyer representing the government said police officers could install GPS devices on the justices’ cars and track their movements without a warrant.