Symposium Announcement: Defining a Search in the 21st Century

I’m a little late in getting the word out on this, but tomorrow (January 25) the Center is partnering with the North Carolina Journal of Law & Technology to host a symposium entitled “U.S. v. Jones: Defining a Search in the 21st Century.”  U.S. v. Jones, decided by the United States Supreme Court on January 23, 2012, involved an effort by police to track the whereabouts of a suspect by installing, without a warrant, a GPS device on his car and continuously monitoring the vehicle for 28 days. The Court held that the attachment of the GPS device constituted a search under the Fourth Amendment and therefore (might have) required a warrant.

The case raises all kinds of interesting questions about the limits on the government’s investigatory powers in a time of rapidly changing technology.  The symposium will be held at the Friday Center, which will provide plenty of free parking.  You can read more about the symposium on our events page.