In Amicus Brief, EPIC Urges Supreme Court to Limit Traffic Stops Based Solely on Owner’s License Status

September 6, 2019

EPIC has submitted an amicus brief in Kansas v. Glover, urging the Supreme Court to limit traffic stops based solely on the status of the registered owner. EPIC warned that permitting police stops based on this factor, when combined with Automated License Plate Readers, would "dramatically alter police practices" and "unfairly burden disadvantaged communities." EPIC provided empirical data for the Court which indicate that ALPRs are more widely used in disadvantaged communities and also that car sharing is more prevalent in these communities. The Supreme Court has previously expanded Fourth Amendment protections for new technologies, such as GPS tracking devices, (US v. Jones), cell phones (Riley v. California), and location data (Carpenter v. United States), in response to evolving policing techniques. EPIC recommended that the Court do the same in this case. EPIC routinely files amicus briefs in cases before federal and state courts concerning emerging privacy issues.

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