An interesting article in the New York Times, available here, talks about the increasing use of GPS tracking in domestic violence cases, either as a condition of pretrial release or as part of a probationary sentence. The story indicates that twelve states have passed legislation designed to enable the use of GPS in such cases. As far as I know, North Carolina's not one of them. I did a quick search of proposed legislation last night, and it doesn't appear that we are set to jump on the bandwagon this year, either. I wonder, though, whether specific legislation is really necessary. Under G.S. 15A-534, a judicial official may impose "restrictions on the travel, associations [and] conduct . . . of the defendant" as conditions of pretrial release. And under G.S. 15A-1343(b1)(10), a judge may impose, as a condition of probation, "any . . . conditions determined by the court to be reasonably related to [the defendant's] rehabilitation." Perhaps those provisions are broad enough to encompass, for example, a ban on contact with the victim, enforced by the use of GPS monitoring. In fact, it looks like GPS monitoring is regularly imposed by federal courts as a condition of pretrial release, even though the federal pretrial release staute, 18 U.S.C. § 3142, doesn't mention GPS. Instead, it contains general language similar to that found in G.S. 15A-534, including a provision that the court may require the defendant to "abide by specified restrictions on personal associations, place of abode, or travel," or require [...]
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