The Supreme Court left too much unresolved with its GPS ruling

[Commentary] The Supreme Court rapped the knuckles of the Obama Administration for arguing that law enforcement officers did not need a court order before slapping a Global Positioning System (GPS) device on a suspect’s car and then tracking him around the clock for weeks on end. It was a welcome decision, as far as it went — which was not far enough.

The justices split into two camps on why the law enforcement action was wrong. The five justices in the majority determined that the placement of the GPS device on the Jeep amounted to a trespass. We agree that the government impermissibly trespassed on the defendant’s property, but by stopping its analysis there, the majority dodged the more important questions regarding what limits should exist when police organizations rely on this powerful and potentially intrusive technology. For example, would the tracking have been acceptable had police simply tapped into a GPS unit that was factory-installed in the vehicle? Congress ought to draft legislation making clear that emergency use of GPS tracking is acceptable to avoid a suspect’s escape — but that, in all other circumstances, law enforcement officers must get a court’s approval before virtually and relentlessly shadowing a suspect.