San Francisco Sheriff’s GPS Tracking Program Divides 9th Cir.

A challenge to the San Francisco sheriff’s policy of sharing the GPS location data of criminal defendants released from custody ahead of their trials appeared to divide a three-judge US appeals court panel at oral arguments Tuesday.

The city is seeking reversal of a district court injunction blocking that part of the sheriff’s pretrial electronic monitoring program that allows the sheriff to share location data with other law enforcement agencies for separate criminal investigations without a warrant.

The San Francisco Superior Court determines whether criminal defendants can be released before trial, and can allow them to participate in the sheriff’s ...