Supreme Court of the United States
United States v. Antoine Jones — Alito, J., Concurring
January 23, 2012181 L. Ed. 2d 911
Summary
Justice Alito concurring in the judgment joins by Justices Ginsburg, Breyer, and Kagan, agrees with the disposition that the Court of Appeals decision should be affirmed but disputes the majority's reasoning. Alito argues the majority's reliance on 18th-century trespass law is unwise and artificial, proposing instead that long-term GPS monitoring be analyzed under the Katz reasonable expectation of privacy test. He concludes that four weeks of GPS tracking constitutes a search because it impinges on privacy expectations. Justice Sotomayor, concurring separately, joins the majority but emphasizes the continuing relevance of the Katz test for non-trespassory surveillance.