Criminal Law in New Jersey: Global Positioning Satellite (G.P.S.) Surveillance in Criminal Investigations

For quite sometime now, police officers have been installing G.P.S. transmitters on a suspect’s vehicle in order to track the activity of the vehicle and the person driving the vehicle. The transmitter allows the government to collect information relating to the suspect’s habits, associations and the sites he/she frequents. There is a large group of jurisdictions where a G.P.S. can be installed on a suspects car without a warrant which is a fundamental component of the Fourth Amendment.

The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers have formed an alliance with varies other associations to obtain permission from various courts to file amicus curiae briefs, to assist court’s in analyzing this sensitive issue. This alliance of legal experts characterize the 24-7 monitoring of an individuals travel as a "Orwellian nightmare" that has both First and Fourth Amendment implications.