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- Case involves a stalker, convicted on the strength of data recovered from a GPS unit
- GPS trackers are used on private property, and to help parents track teenagers
- Michael Sveum was convicted in 1996 for stalking a former girlfriendMilwaukee Journal-Sentinel: Appeals court backs police GPS use, raises questions (May 7, 2009)
- From prison he sent her harassing lettersMilwaukee Journal-Sentinel: Appeals court backs police GPS use, raises questions (May 7, 2009)
- Released in 2002, he resumed stalking the womanMilwaukee Journal-Sentinel: Appeals court backs police GPS use, raises questions (May 7, 2009)
- Police started tracking him in 2004Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel: Appeals court backs police GPS use, raises questions (May 7, 2009)
- Convicted to 7 1/2 years, followed by 4 years of supervisionMilwaukee Journal-Sentinel: Appeals court backs police GPS use, raises questions (May 7, 2009)
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GPS tracking is a method of electronic surveillance used by some members of the police department—and the public—to track anyone's movements without a search warrant.Chicago Tribune: Wisconsin court upholds GPS tracking by police (May 7, 2009)
On May 7, 2009, an appeals court in Madison, Wisconsin, said that police can mount devices on people's cars without a search warrant—even if the drivers are not suspects. The court urged the state legislature to consider regulating police and private use of the technology.Chicago Tribune: Wisconsin court upholds GPS tracking by police (May 7, 2009)
GPS and Stalking
The case which was heard in the appellate court in Wisconsin involved an incident in 2003, when police used a warrant to put a GPS unit on the car of Michael Sveum, a man under investigation for stalking. It remained on Sveum's car for five weeks, when police retrieved it and downloaded information.Chicago Tribune: Wisconsin court upholds GPS tracking by police (May 7, 2009) The Newspaper: Wisconsin Appeals Court Upholds Warrantless GPS Spying (May 8, 2009)Police used the data downloaded form Sveum's car, to get a second warrant to search his car and found evidence of stalking. He was convicted and sentenced to prison.Chicago Tribune: Wisconsin court upholds GPS tracking by police (May 7, 2009) The Newspaper: Wisconsin Appeals Court Upholds Warrantless GPS Spying (May 8, 2009)
Sveum argued that the tracking violated his Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable search and seizure.Chicago Tribune: Wisconsin court upholds GPS tracking by police (May 7, 2009) The Newspaper: Wisconsin Appeals Court Upholds Warrantless GPS Spying (May 8, 2009)
Legal Justification
"[Previous cases US v Knotts and US v Karo] teach that, to the extent a tracking device reveals vehicle travel information visible to the general public, and thus obtainable by warrantless visual surveillance, the use of the device does not normally implicate Fourth Amendment protections. It follows that no Fourth Amendment violation occurred here simply because the police used a GPS device to obtain information about Sveum's car that was visible to the general public."—Wisconsin Appellate CourtThe Newspaper: Wisconsin Appeals Court Upholds Warrantless GPS Spying (May 8, 2009)About this page
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