Spring has begun and the flowers of justice are blooming. One of these flowers, which is especially beautiful and fragrant, is a decision issued today by the Massachusetts Supreme Court that significantly limits the use of GPS devices for those convicted of a sex offense even if the registrant is on probation.
In its decision, the Court determined that GPS monitoring of an individual convicted of possessing and distributing child pornography constitutes a violation of the Fourth Amendment which protects against unreasonable searches. Specifically, the court stated that “(t)he government’s strong interest in protecting the public from sex offenders”….does “not outweigh the privacy intrusion occasioned by GPS monitoring.”
It is significant that the Court acknowledged that registrants are harmed in several ways when they are required to wear a GPS device. For example, registrants’ jobs are threatened when they are required to leave their job site and walk around outside in order to regain a lost satellite connection. It is also significant that the Court acknowledged that GPS tracking devices amass “a substantial quantum of intimate information about [a] person” and that information is stored indefinitely in a way that is currently unregulated by statute.
As sweet as the Massachusetts decision is, it does not mean that all registrants in that state will be free of the requirement to wear a GPS device. Instead, it means that the government must make a decision on a case-by-case basis whether a registrant in that state will be required to wear such a device.
Two additional beautiful and fragrant spring flowers of justice are recent acts in Connecticut and Virginia that will restore the civil rights of registrants and their loved ones. Specifically, the town of Windsor Locks, Connecticut, repealed a local law that prohibited registrants from visiting parks, schools, libraries and other public places. And the Governor of Virginia proposed the elimination of language in a law that would have prohibited registrants from entering emergency shelters.
Breathe deeply. Spring is here. And justice is blooming in many gardens.
— by Janice Bellucci
Read all Janice’s Journals
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Decision: Commonwealth v. Felix – GPS – Mass. – March 2019
Related: MA: Mandatory GPS monitoring of some sex offenders violates privacy rights
People dont say this enough.
Thank you.
Ny downstate. I had gps after jail when I was on probation. The judge wrote it on he sheet with my conditions. 6months. It hardly ever worked correctly. Buzzing, flashing, my cellphone ringing. Drove my P.O. to drink.
“The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” Janice, I want to believe this so badly. You and I have spoken several times and each time you have taken time and cared. Thank YOU for helping lead the charge nationwide. Many of us are grateful for your expertise, your passion… and your needed pep talks :).
Thank you, Janice, and here is to hoping that some of that fragrance comes this way to California real soon. With people like you leading the way I do believe we have a good chance.
Thank you for your work on our behalf
Blooming and booming uses of electronics devices to ” protect the public” and ” to assist law enforcement. ” That was the agenda behind the use of a database like state’s SORs. Judges are coming to terms concerning the power of the database machines to “continuously search” dozens of times per minute as GPS monitoring. The impact upon plain liberty plainly distinguishable as affirmative intent to impose restraint or restrictions on every day life.
I was on probation in MA for 3+ years, all of it on GPS. It was without doubt the worst part of my probation by far. Always flashing/buzzing looking for a signal, usually having to leave work and walk outside until it regained a signal. GPS calling me to ask where I was because they lost signal on me. A loud beeping sound sometimes while in business meetings! Was basically a robot at night plugged into the wall charging up. So glad they are loosening up that law a bit. Doesn’t help me, but it will definitely help others on probation trying to get their lives back on track.
YOU are a beautiful Spring Flower amongst all us dark and dreary thoughts of how ourselves feel “Daily” some good some bad, worse for the RC’s that are homeless and jobless also. Thank you for allowing us to smell and see light at a long tunnel with not much sight ahead and bring COLORS of Spring to us all! Families, Spouses and love one’s and most all, the RC’s that fight daily to see any positiveness. THANK YOU ATTY JB!!!
If I had a non-contact, non-minor sex offense in California and had a GPS device, I would definitely contact a lawyer about getting it removed.
I contacted a lawyer anyway but I don’t expect to get as far.
Flowers, no matter how beautiful, eventually die.
How sad…..! Some of you out there just don’t get it. This IS a public forum, a place where ALL who suffer from the unconstitutional laws in this country can come to share thoughts, feelings and most importantly information. This SHOULD be a place where we can all expect to be heard without judgment. To “shut it” guy….. (and all others who don’ get it). How many open hearings have any of you been to in person? How many letters have you written to your representatives? (I have written to them all in my state) We need to fight, not “shut it”….! We need to be heard, anywhere, everywhere, any opportunity we get to speak. There is a very big opportunity coming up on the 9th in California, and all of you who live there need to do whatever you can to be there…..
@Tim Moore that was a really cool metaphor very well said …
That’s true.