» welcome to the future.

Earlier this month, the Ninth Circuit Court rejected a hearing on the legality of evidence collected by a warrantless GPS tracking system installed by FBI agents on the vehicle of a man suspected of being involved in a cannabis grow operation in Oregon.

Juan Pineda-Moreno of Oregon accepted a guilty plea with the condition that he could take his case to the Ninth Circuit Court to have the full panel of judges review the constitutionality of the evidence collected by the GPS device. Federal agents twice snuck into the defendant’s driveway and attached a GPS tracking device to his Jeep. The judges who rejected the appeal likened the agent’s actions to a neighbor retrieving a lost ball from under the car, or the delivery of a newspaper.

Reuters.

The upshot of this is that, currently, the Ninth Circuit Court and its constituencies uphold the ability of federal agents to, without a warrant or any permission from anyone, can slap a GPS tracking device on any vehicle in a public area that doesn’t explicitly have “No Trespassing” signs on it. Because we don’t have an expectation of privacy – or not being unreasonably searched – in our own driveways.

Some state laws (Ohio comes to mind, although Ohio isn’t under the jurisdiction of the Ninth Circuit Court) would allow homeowners to use deadly force against suspicious trespassers. Somehow you can have the reasonable expectation of the right to shoot someone, but your car is fair game for as many tracking devices as they can fit on it. Something here seems out of place.

Luckily, an appellate court in Washington, DC recently ruled that federal agents had no right to warrantlessly track people using GPS devices, so hopefully it won’t be long before this ruling is overturned by a higher court.

President Obama has declared June to be LBGT Pride Month. In his proclamation, he also reaffirmed his commitment to repealing DOMA, DADT, and ensuring equal benefits for Federal employees, whom, he pointed out, consist of “openly LGBT employees [...] serving at every level.”

Much work remains to fulfill our Nation’s promise of equal justice under law for LGBT Americans. That is why we must give committed gay couples the same rights and responsibilities afforded to any married couple, and repeal the Defense of Marriage Act. We must protect the rights of LGBT families by securing their adoption rights, ending employment discrimination against LGBT Americans, and ensuring Federal employees receive equal benefits. We must create safer schools so all our children may learn in a supportive environment. I am also committed to ending “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” so patriotic LGBT Americans can serve openly in our military, and I am working with the Congress and our military leadership to accomplish that goal.

While I have been disappointed with the level of talk and the distinct level of inaction since previous promises to make these changes, I believe very strongly that getting people talking about the issues of equal rights is extremely important. The more we as a country discuss this vital issue, the closer we are to coming to a consensus on its resolution.

A bonus: Metafilter user ericb lists current LGBT members of the Obama administration.