US v. Korte, No. 18-50051 (3-15-19)(Owens w/Nelson & Callahan; Nelson concurring). Being a parolee is tough, especially when it comes to the 4^th Amendment.  The defendant went on a crime spree (bank robberies) while being on parole.  Investigating, the police put a GPS device on his car and then later searched the trunk. The 9^th held that the trunk search was permitted under precedent for being on parole.  It was his car, and had greatly diminished expectations of privacy. The GPS device was also permitted; since his phone could be searched, Riley notwithstanding, then putting a device on the car was even less intrusive.  The police also had gotten the defendant’s cell tower location movements by a court order.  The 9^th applied a “good faith” analysis since the order was issued prior to Carpenter v. US, 138 S. Ct. 2206 (2018). Carpenter required a warrant.  The 9^th sidestepped whether a warrant would be required (although under the analysis, it doesn’t look good).

Nelson, concurring, decried the diminishment of 4^th amendment protections for those on probation and parole.  She calls for a reexamination as technology moves forward. 

The decision is here:

http://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2019/03/15/18-50051.pdf