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To: newgeezer
I have to admit, on some level, their attaching a GPS to a vehicle would seem to be not much different than their following the same vehicle 24x7 with the world's smallest, most maneuverable helicopter. It still doesn't seem right, though.

I agree. What gives them the right to touch your car? This country is getting scarier by the minute.
58 posted on 01/21/2005 12:32:10 PM PST by microgood (Washington State: Ukraine without the poison)
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To: microgood
What gives them the right to touch your car?

That is an excellent point. Generally anytime you or your property are not free to move, you are under arrest (or are being detained). Law enforcement must have probable cause to do that. The exception to the rule I stated is if a police officer has reasonable suspicion to believe that you are involved in criminal activity, he may make a temporary detention, called a Terry stop.

However, the GPS analogy the judge used is a poor one. I can drive my car on private property, particularly my own where I do have a reasonable expectation of privacy. Particularly if my car is in an enclosed garage, the police cannot enter my garage without a search warrant to see if it is in there. When the police seize your car and place the GPS in it, it is more akin to a "pen register". (A pen register collects the number you called and not the actual communication you hold) You have no expectation of privacy in the number called, the phone company keeps that record or the owner of the number you are calling will know you called it. Nonetheless, it still takes a court order to get a pen register placed on your telephone.

63 posted on 01/21/2005 1:55:41 PM PST by Lawgvr1955 (I wish Bob Wallace more cowbell in the coming year.)
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