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Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:
Back in 2012, the US Supreme Court ruled that it's illegal for the police to attach a GPS tracking device to someone's car without a warrant. But what if you find a GPS tracking device on your car? Can you remove it?
A little more than a year ago, the state of Indiana charged a suspected drug dealer with theft for removing a government-owned GPS tracking device from his SUV. This month, the state's Supreme Court began considering the case, and some justices seemed skeptical of the government's argument.
"I'm really struggling with how is that theft," said Justice Steven David during recent oral arguments.
-- submitted from IRC
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Cops Put GPS Tracker on Man's Car, Charge Him With Theft for Removing It
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I don't want a pickle,
I just wanna ride on my motorsickle.
And I don't want to die,
I just want to ride on my motorcy.
Cle.
-- Arlo Guthrie
(Score: 4, Insightful) by barbara hudson on Thursday November 21 2019, @01:58AM (13 children)
Bonus points for "turning it in" by attaching it to the mayors car. -
Or just selling the vehicle. Or leasing it to someone to use as an Uber driver. Or shipping it cross country. I or parking it in a metal shipping container. Or driving over potholes and it accidentally gets dislodged, or damaged almost as if someone took a hammer to it. Or lending it to a charity so they can do pickups and deliveries once in a while. Or just drive to a pharmaceutical warehouse on a regular basis and just sit in the parking lot doing nothing for half an hour. Or park in front of the the Russian/Chinese embassy for 5 minutes on an irregular basis. Or visit the CIAs Langley offices once a month so they wonder what sort of black ops they've stumbled upon.
The plot sickens / thickens.
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(Score: 5, Interesting) by Chocolate on Thursday November 21 2019, @02:37AM (9 children)
I don't get it. If they attached something, permanently, to my property then are they not giving said property to me?
How is this different from someone hanging an ornament on the front of my house? Who owns the ornament? Can the person who put it there actually sue over its removal or destruction?
In which case, what is stopping people from walking up to a church and hanging a cross upside down? :)
Bit-choco-coin anyone?
(Score: 1) by anubi on Thursday November 21 2019, @02:55AM (5 children)
Isn't abandoning stuff on someone else's property known as littering?
If I took anything and affixed it to my neighbors car, and my neighbor discovered it and removed it, how is it he wronged me?
If I found such a thing, it would definitely rattle me, as it's solid evidence I am squarely in someone's gun sight... Not knowing who it is makes it likely I prepare for war with the wrong person.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 2) by Chocolate on Thursday November 21 2019, @04:43AM
Is the answer then to sue the owner of the device for littering? :)
Bit-choco-coin anyone?
(Score: 2) by edIII on Thursday November 21 2019, @06:22AM (2 children)
Isn't there a Supreme Court decision regarding who owns the trash you put on the side of the street? I believe they decided that you gave away all rights to the property when you did it.
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 21 2019, @06:01PM
I believe it counts as abandoned property, yes.
(Score: 2) by Chocolate on Saturday November 23 2019, @06:10AM
A person who lived in a complex where I used to reside would park their car in my space. They saw my marked space empty a lot of the time so parked there. The letter I left on their windshield basically said 'Please move your car. Leaving private property on someone else's land may result in the property being sold to recover costs involved with disposal'.
The person went into an absolute rage. Banging on doors, shouting, threats. The police will not do anything until a complaint is made and damage is done. In the end he did move his car, and stopped parking there.
The law does say property left on private property can be disposed of if not claimed. A reasonable effort and time, based on the value of the property, determines when it can be destroyed or sold. Which is why my notice stated the car was worth $100. Minimal notice needed, and it's the price paid by local junkyards for old vehicles to be trashed.
Bit-choco-coin anyone?
(Score: 3, Touché) by Runaway1956 on Thursday November 21 2019, @02:46PM
Nahhhh - a good war is worth it, even if you get the "wrong person". Ask Boeing, and Raytheon, or any of the Military Industrial Complex.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 21 2019, @05:48AM (2 children)
I believe they are magnetic to make it easier for the officer to attach them easily. I remember a case a while back where an officer went into someone's yard to attach one of these trackers to a car without a warrant. IIRC, that case is why they need a warrant to use these trackers instead of just attaching them to cars at will.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 21 2019, @06:24PM (1 child)
Drive a Corvette. Magnetic doesn't work too well on fiberglass/aluminum.
(Score: 1) by Sulla on Thursday November 21 2019, @09:15PM
So GM ran all of those commercials about how ford's aluminum vehicles were garbage and then removed the steel frame from the corvette? At least on the ford trucks they doubled the size of their steel frames when they switched to aluminum body panels.
Ceterum censeo Sinae esse delendam
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Thursday November 21 2019, @02:40PM (2 children)
Why go to the bother, and expense? Just visit a truckstop, and attach the device to a trailer. Not a tractor, but the trailer. Preferably one of those large fleets that are well known for obstructing the highway with their slow-assed trucks. Swift, JB Hunt, CR England - the list goes on.
(Score: 2) by PinkyGigglebrain on Thursday November 21 2019, @08:27PM (1 child)
If not by ship, plan, or train,
then by truck.
"Beware those who would deny you Knowledge, For in their hearts they dream themselves your Master."
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 21 2019, @09:16PM
If I can't take a boat, why would I want to plan and train so that I can go by truck?