Wisconsin man forced to wear GPS tracking bracelet for life

Over the last couple of decades, the GPS ankle bracelet has quietly become a common technology that most U.S. citizens accept as a part of "house arrest" legal judgments. 

But would we be so accepting of that technology if it were possible that we had to wear one for life? A recent case in Wisconsin indicates that some people in certain states may not have a choice.

Used to monitor the movements of those ranging from sex offenders to white collar criminals, GPS bracelets have attained a kind of outlaw cachét in some circles, most notably celebrities, such as Lindsay Lohan and Martha Stewart.

But a Wisconsin man, Michael Belleau, 72, who served time in prison as a sex offender, won't be able to move on from his ankle bracelet like some of the high-profile law breakers before him.

The case, highlighted in a report by Ars Technica, illuminates the slippery slope of using technology to track individuals outside of prison in the face of personal privacy rights.

In this case, Wisconsin actually has a sex offender law (Wisconsin Act 431) that allows the state to keep a GPS tracking on a person for his or her entire life. 

Listed under the section of the law titled "Global positioning system tracking and residency requirement for certain sex offenders," is the chilling passage that lays out the rule in no uncertain terms:

"'Lifetime tracking' means global positioning system tracking that is required for a person for the remainder of the person's life…"

Belleau, with the help of the ACLU of Wisconsin, appealed the decision to force him to wear the ankle monitor for life. In a court document, attorneys for Belleau wrote:

"Having a device affixed to one’s body that can be seen by the public, transmits audible messages, and results in frequent visits from DOC officials or police, predictably subjects offenders to face-to-face humiliation and thus closely resembles historical shaming punishments."

Having a device affixed to one’s body ... subjects offenders to face-to-face humiliation and thus closely resembles historical shaming punishments

And a district court supported Belleau's claim, but he was defeated in the court of appeals, which upheld the original ruling. In the Jan. 29 ruling, the court of appeals stated:

"Given how slight is the incremental loss of privacy from having to wear the anklet monitor, and how valuable to society (including sex offenders who have gone straight) the information collected by the monitor is, we can't agree with the district judge that the Wisconsin law violates the Fourth Amendment."

Most of the court's reasoning repeatedly focused on the possibility of a convicted criminal reoffending.

"[W]e doubt that the community would or should be reassured by a psychologist’s guess that a pedophile has 'only' (say) a 49% chance of reoffending, or even the 16% chance estimated in this case — especially given all the accompanying negatives in the psychologist’s report."

According to the report, Belleau's GPS ankle bracelet is waterproof up to 15 feet water and only requires an hour's charge per day, effectively making it tougher and more reliable than most mobile devices on the market. 

As technology and the law evolve in tandem, various states have differing laws regarding lifetime GPS tracking. For example, as far back as 2005, states including Ohio, Oklahoma, Floria and Missouri have allowed for lifetime GPS tracking, according to a report from Wired.

And while there are many who might agree that a sexual offender should be tracked and monitored for life, the key question is: How far will this kind of law enforcement go when it comes to other, non-violent crimes? 

Of course, that's for the courts to decide. But in the meantime, we now get to ponder the possibility of a future in which a lifetime sentence of being GPS tracked isn't a legal curiosity, but a real-life possibility.

Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.