Sounds like another conspiracy theory, only it isn't. Remember when habeas went overboard? Remember when torture became just another tool for the military and intelligence agencies? Remember FISA?
Probable cause may well be on its deathbed.
Federal officials are routinely asking courts to order cellphone companies to furnish real-time tracking data so they can pinpoint the whereabouts of drug traffickers, fugitives and other criminal suspects, according to judges and industry lawyers.
In some cases, judges have granted the requests without requiring the government to demonstrate that there is probable cause to believe that a crime is taking place or that the inquiry will yield evidence of a crime.
All of this is made much easier now, technologically, thanks to the latest gizmos which allow us to keep track of our kids and friends.
"Most people don't realize it, but they're carrying a tracking device in their pocket," said Kevin Bankston of the privacy advocacy group Electronic Frontier Foundation. "Cellphones can reveal very precise information about your location, and yet legal protections are very much up in the air."
No one is keeping track of just how many government violations of probable cause are taking place. Nor, according to the Washington Post report, is there any Congressional oversight.
