Source: courthousenews.com 12/16/25
A class of convicted sex offenders in Wisconsin say the state’s ankle monitor requirement for repeat offenders infringes on their Fourth Amendment rights.
CHICAGO (CN) — A class of convicted sex offenders in Wisconsin maintained to a Seventh Circuit panel Tuesday that the state’s lifetime GPS monitoring requirement runs afoul of the Fourth Amendment.
The Wisconsin Department of Corrections requires all repeat sex offenders (those who’ve been convicted two or more times) to wear an ankle monitor for life unless they move out of the state or if, after 20 years without a new conviction of any kind, they successfully petition for its removal.
A class of convicted sex offenders appealed that law in 2019 and said the ankle monitor requirement infringes on their Fourth Amendment rights. The Fourth Amendment protects people from unreasonable government search and seizure and safeguards privacy rights.
“No one denies the seriousness of sexual offending or the state’s strong interest in combating it, but the Fourth Amendment does not ask whether a search feels intuitively justified. It asks whether — in light of the evidence — the state has put forth a constitutionally sufficient justification for the search,” plaintiffs’ attorney Adele Nicholas said.
Assistant Attorney General of Wisconsin Jody Schmelzer agreed the law implicates the Fourth Amendment, but she said it survives constitutional scrutiny under…
🤔The emphasis is on 2 or more convictions. Does 1 sentencing with multiple violations count as 1 or N?
Even if someone believes gps tracking is somehow synonymous with registration (which is a fallacy already), how could they then double down that registration is still non punitive? Put another way, can the government impose gps tracking on individuals as a civil consequence for a past offense without due process? Not including those on parole or probation here…people off the books. I simply don’t know of other offense where gps is prescribed when the person is not on paper still.so it seems like a traditional form of punishment.
At what point are the judges opinions considered nonsense? No rational person would agree on the points made here.
Doug, I have one conviction, 10 counts of possession of CP. Sentenced 4-2015. Got out 4-2018. I was sentenced 3in, 3 out with 15 years after my sentence to register. Wisconsin decided that anyone with 2 or more counts in one conviction, has committed a repeat offense. And all repeat offenses are SBN. Special bulletin notice. All SBN are lifetime registry and lifetime GPS!!! So on 9-2018 I got the GPS!!! And with that, up to $240 a month GPS monitoring fee!!! And that fee is for household income!!!! So if the PFR is unemployed, but your parents make $2400 or more GROSS a month, the PFR pays $240 a month!!! I was one of the 8 that joined the 2019 lawsuit that failed. When the 7th circuit killed us in 2022 I felt deflated. Then a guy, Rector, got his lawsuit though!!! And on 8-2023 the GPS came off!!!!! But of course Wisconsin wrote the law, that the Wisconsin circuit Court determined not enforceable. So, I lost my 22 year job in May of 2024 and a week later the GPS returned. I am still in contact with Mark Weinberg and his partner, Adele Nicholas. And of course, I have always thrown my hat into lawsuits. Unfortunately, I feel deflated with energy. And after gaining employment again, the state has obligated me with a $240 a month fee for the gift of my GPS units. I should also state, in the last 7 years of GPS wearing, I have had…..39 different units on my ankle! They usually fail anywhere from 1 week to 2 months. I don’t baby them. Let me ask, is the community safer with me wearing a GPS unit? My crime is computer related. And with that, I keep on fighting!!!
I wonder how many of these judges have stock in GPS monitoring systems. ” Show me the money.”
Ahhh…..them cheese heads are at it again! They just can’t let go of slapping on those ankle bracelets, even if they serve as decoration pieces. Because after supervision, one can basically go anywhere they choose…even inside a school house if permission be granted. I really wouldn’t use the same argument with the 7th which they used in 2020 that said the bracelets are burdensome. Unfortunately, that probably still won’t fly in today’s hysterical climate. Plaintiffs would probably have more success appealing the Wisconsin statue that considers more than 1 count in the same court proceeding as a repeat offense. Although the class of plaintiffs would be narrower, at least it might sway some judge on the 7th who feels it defies common sense to think viewing 2 pictures at once is repeating a crime. Even conservative judges on the Wisconsin Supreme Court thought that was ridiculous, until those meathead politicians changed the law. 😖 Anyways, I wish the plaintiffs success on their 2nd attempt, but that’s only wishful thinking on my part.