Supreme Court’s decision secures Fourth Amendment rights

The Supreme Court ruled in favor of United States citizens and their Fourth Amendment rights Monday. In a unanimous ruling, the court was able to declare it strictly unconstitutional for law enforcement to attach tracking devices on suspects' cars without a warrant. This decision comes at a crucial time in the U.S. With the ever-expanding world of technology, more ways are being created for people to be tracked. Whether it is cell phones or GPS devices installed on vehicles, privacy is becoming a major issue. People are now much more easily tracked, and it is up to the courts to enforce the Constitution against such actions. The ruling by the Supreme Court on Monday was made in favor of people and their constitutional right against illegal search and seizure.

U.S. v. Jones was the case decided on Monday and will serve as one of the first as this country explores a new era of technological advancements. The defendant was a suspected cocaine dealer that the police attached a GPS device to his vehicle. They followed the movement of Jones for 28 days. Later, he would be arrested for conspiring to sell cocaine and receive a life sentence. Where did this evidence come from? It was based upon the evidence gathered during the period of surveillance. However, all this occurred on an expired warrant. Jones was surely involved in some dubious activity, but he should have not been convicted on the evidence gained through an unwarranted tracking device on his vehicle.

This case is different, and pertinent to the digital age, in the sense that no physical intrusion occurred. The Supreme Court could have said because there was no physical intrusion, then there was no constitutional protection. Luckily, this was not the case. Called a "signal event in Fourth Amendment history," by the defense lawyer, this case will hopefully pave the way for at least future protection of the Fourth Amendment.

However, let us not forget that after 9/11, many actions were taken and bills were passed to monitor and scrutinize American citizens for suspected terrorism ties. Many of these, including the Patriot Act and the most recent National Defense Operation Act which states that suspected terrorists can be "indefinitely detained," are still being enforced against citizens. So, yes, let us revel in this Fourth Amendment victory, but let us not forget that we are still a ways to go from having the full constitutional entitlement to barring illegal search and seizure.