GPS Monitor Probe Not a ‘Search’, Massachusetts Justices Rule

Law enforcement officials can retrieve the short-term GPS location data of defendants on pretrial release while investigating separate incidents without violating their privacy rights, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court held Wednesday.

The ruling stems from the Boston Police Department’s investigation of a shooting unrelated to the crime for which defendant Anthony Govan was on pretrial release. Govan was subject to GPS monitoring following a domestic violence incident, and was later found to be near the shooting location he argued the review of his location data for the separate crime was an unconstitutional warrantless search.

“The defendant was aware that his ...