Almost a decade ago, the Supreme Court of Washington held that the installation
and use of GPS devices in vehicles constitutes a search or seizure under
Article 1, Section 7 of the Washington State Constitution.
State v. Jackson
, 150 Wn.2d 251 (2003). This case notwithstanding, the Justice Department
has been of the opinion for years that warrants were not required under
the Fourth Amendment, and no controlling federal jurisprudence held otherwise.
Now, just a few days ago, the United States Supreme Court has essentially
adopted the protections of our state constitution – unanimously
holding that the use of GPS devices to track suspects constitutes a search
and must therefore be justified by a warrant.
U.S. v. Jones
, No. 10–1259, slip op. (January 23, 2012).
In that case, police attached a GPS device to the defendant’s vehicle
and tracked his movements 24/7 for four weeks. He was subsequently indicted
on drug trafficking charges. The trial court suppressed GPS data while
the vehicle was parked at the defendant’s residence, but held that
the remaining data would be admissible because the defendant didn’t
have a reasonable expectation of privacy when the vehicle was on public
streets. The Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit reversed, and the US
Supreme Court affirmed.
As mentioned above, this is not a novel concept to Washington, whose citizens
enjoy broader protection from governmental intrusion than under the Fourth
Amendment. The focus of our Article 1, Section 7 (our “Fourth Amendment”)
is on “those privacy interests which citizens of this state have
held, and should be entitled to hold, safe from governmental trespass.”
State v. Myrick
, 102 Wn.2d 506, 511 (1984). Therefore, there is a both a subjective and
objective component to inquiries under our Article 1, Section 7. In other
words, even where advanced technology leads to diminished subjective expectations
of privacy, our constitution can still protect citizens from the warrantless
use of that technology by recognizing an objective expectation of privacy
that our citizens should be entitled to hold safe from governmental trespass.
Id
.
If you or your property have been searched -- with or without a warrant
-- call Baumgarten Law Office at (509) 593-4370 or (888) 445-2878 for
a free consultation.
