Park v. State (Ga. 2019)

Park v. State, 825 S.E.2d 147 (Ga. 2019)

Nature of Case: Appellant was convicted of a sexual offense and was classified as a “sexually violent predator.” Georgia law required individuals bearing that designation to wear and pay for a GPS monitor for their natural life. Appellant was subsequently charged with an offense related to tampering with the GPS device, and moved to dismiss the charge on the grounds that the statute which required the GPS monitoring was unconstitutional. The trial court denied the motion, and the Georgia Supreme Court granted application for interlocutory appeal.

Holding:  The Georgia Supreme Court held that the statute which automatically imposed GPS monitoring on certain individuals who were no longer serving their criminal sentences was facially unconstitutional as a violation of the Fourth Amendment. GPS monitoring is a search for the purposes of Fourth Amendment analysis, and individuals who have completed their criminal sentences do not have a diminished expectation of privacy. Furthermore, such a search is not justified by the “special needs” doctrine.