EckerNet.Com

A little surprised this story hasn\’t gotten more play but here it is.

Wisconsin police can attach GPS to cars to secretly track anybody\’s movements without obtaining search warrants, an appeals court ruled Thursday.

However, the District 4 Court of Appeals said it was \”more than a little troubled\” by that conclusion and asked Wisconsin lawmakers to regulate GPS use to protect against abuse by police and private individuals.

As the law currently stands, the court said police can mount GPS on cars to track people without violating their constitutional rights — even if the drivers aren\’t suspects.

Officers do not need to get warrants beforehand because GPS tracking does not involve a search or a seizure, Judge Paul Lundsten wrote for the unanimous three-judge panel based in Madison.

Okay I think we can all agree this is pretty scary and it\’s a huge step back for civil liberties.  However, there is a silver lining here.

The judges admit they are more than a little troubled by what their ruling would imply.  It would have been a relatively easy step to jump on the judicial activism bandwagon and declare this practice verboten.  Instead they applied the current law, as it exists to the situation.  Then despite their personal feeling about what was fair, they declared that the law as it exists allows for this.  They filled their role as judges.  Then they followed up by urging the legislature to fulfill their role as legislators and pass a law to restrict this usage.

Personal feeling did not affect what is a purely a legal issue.  That\’s absolutely the way the system is supposed to work.  It may not be the fastest way or the most emotional fulfilling, but it is the right way.