Grady v. North Carolina (575 U.S. 306)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided March 30, 2015 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 575 U.S. 306 · 135 S. Ct. 1368
- Decided
- March 30, 2015
- Term
- October Term 2014
- Vote
- 9–0
- Issue area
- Criminal Procedure
- Disposition
- Vacated and remanded
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
Opinion PER CURIAM. Petitioner Torrey Dale Grady was convicted in North Carolina trial courts of a second degree sexual offense in 1997 and of taking indecent liberties with a child in 2006. After serving his sentence for the latter crime, Grady was ordered to appear in New Hanover County Superior Court for a hearing to determine whether he should be subjected to satellite-based monitoring (SBM) as a recidivist sex offender. See N.C. Gen.Stat. Ann. §§ 14-208.40(a)(1), 14-208.40B (2013). Grady did not dispute that his prior convictions rendered him a recidivist under the relevant North Carolina statutes. He argued, however, that the monitoring program-under which he would be forced to wear tracking devices at all times-would violate his Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures. Unpersuaded, the trial court ordered Grady to enroll in the program and be monitored for the rest of his life. Record in No. COA13-958 (N.C. App.), pp. 3-4, 18-22. Grady renewed his Fourth Amendment challenge on appeal, relying on this Court's decision in United States v. Jones,565 U.S. ----, 132 S.Ct. 945, 181 L.Ed.2d 911 (2012). In that case, this Court held that police officers had engaged in a "search" within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment when they installed and monitored a Global Positioning System (GPS) tracking device on a suspect's car. The North Carolina…
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