TRI In The News
Potentially Unconstitutional Violations in NY?
From One News Now
Original article available here
The Rutherford Institute is taking New York to task over GPS tracking devices in taxis.
In 2007, the New York Taxi and Limousine Commission mandated that virtually all taxis used in the city would have to have the Global Positioning System devices installed. Supposedly it was not to keep track of where taxis were going, but to monitor how passengers were charged and to track lost property.
Rutherford Institute founder John Whitehead says the government agency did use the devices to track the cabs.
"Two taxi drivers came to us and they were aware of the recent case in the U.S. Supreme Court of U.S. v. Jones," says Whitehead. "There, about two months ago, the Supreme Court ruled that by the police putting a GPS device on someone's car, physically attaching it without a warrant [reviewed by a judge] -- which means that you have to have some evidence of wrongdoing -- ... it was unconstitutional."
Whitehead says it would seem under that ruling, that by a governmental agency placing GPS devices or requiring them on cars over the objections of the drivers, it would be unconstitutional.
Rutherford Institute has filed suit asking a federal judge to decide if New York City cab drivers' rights have been violated.
