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Chicago Is Tracking Kids Awaiting Trial With GPS Monitors That Can Call, Record Them Without Consent (theappeal.org)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Appeal: On March 29, court officials in Chicago strapped an ankle monitor onto Shawn, a 15-year-old awaiting trial on charges of armed robbery. They explained that the device would need to be charged for two hours a day and that it would track his movements using GPS technology. He was told he would have to be given permission to leave his house, even to go to school. But he found out that through his monitor, officers wouldn't just be able to track his location, as most electronic monitors do. They would also be able to speak -- and listen -- to him. Shawn, whose name has been changed to protect his identity, is one of hundreds of children in Chicago whose ankle monitors are now equipped with microphones and speakers. The stated purpose of these devices is to communicate with the children, but they are raising concerns among civil liberties watchers that they are actually a mechanism for surveilling the conversations of these kids and those around them -- and potentially for using the recordings in criminal cases.
In January, Cook County, home of Chicago, awarded a contract to the electronic monitoring company Track Group, which will lease 275 ankle monitors to keep tabs on children awaiting trial. The devices, known as ReliAlert XC3, have two-way communication capabilities that allow both electronic monitoring officers at the criminal court and employees at Track Group's monitoring center to call an individual wearing a monitor at any time. The wearer can press a button on the device to reach the monitoring center, but there is no way to decline an incoming call. Cook County officials said juvenile probation began using the new devices in February because of their extended battery life and more secure band. The devices were also selected because of their built-in communication, as some children on probation are difficult to reach by phone. But Pat Milhizer, the director of communications for the office of the chief judge in the Circuit Court of Cook County, said the county would now review concerns about privacy. "I can't quite even start down the parade of horribles in terms of all the ways this could be a problem," said Sarah Staudt, senior policy analyst and staff attorney for Chicago Appleseed Fund for Justice and a former juvenile defense attorney in Cook County. "The idea that an adult can turn on a listening device while a child is, say, in the bathroom or in their bedroom is not good."
In January, Cook County, home of Chicago, awarded a contract to the electronic monitoring company Track Group, which will lease 275 ankle monitors to keep tabs on children awaiting trial. The devices, known as ReliAlert XC3, have two-way communication capabilities that allow both electronic monitoring officers at the criminal court and employees at Track Group's monitoring center to call an individual wearing a monitor at any time. The wearer can press a button on the device to reach the monitoring center, but there is no way to decline an incoming call. Cook County officials said juvenile probation began using the new devices in February because of their extended battery life and more secure band. The devices were also selected because of their built-in communication, as some children on probation are difficult to reach by phone. But Pat Milhizer, the director of communications for the office of the chief judge in the Circuit Court of Cook County, said the county would now review concerns about privacy. "I can't quite even start down the parade of horribles in terms of all the ways this could be a problem," said Sarah Staudt, senior policy analyst and staff attorney for Chicago Appleseed Fund for Justice and a former juvenile defense attorney in Cook County. "The idea that an adult can turn on a listening device while a child is, say, in the bathroom or in their bedroom is not good."
Chicago is run by democrats. This isn't a republican issue.
I'm not sure that I see a problem with this. I would also argue that it isn't with out their consent. You have a choice. Stay in jail till your trial, or wear this monitor and mostly get on with your life.
I read at +2. If your post doesn't reach that level I will not see or respond to it.
Ok let's say they are in the bathroom when someone decides to call them. Even in jail they have more privacy than that.
And ability to listen to everything that is going on? If the government wants that, it should put them in jail where it can listen.
Um, if the kids are hard to reach by telephone, call their parents. Anyway they should have a date and time when they need to report in. What does the government need to call them about at random times? To ask what they're having for lunch?
At the very least there should be a limit to a time range during the day that microphone/speakers set can be active.
No they don't. In jail you have no privacy what so ever. You poop in full view of guards and inmates. They can strip search you anytime they want too. An go through any items you have and even take them away for any reason what so ever.
These are not model children, and nether are their parents, that are being tagged and monitored. These are gang bangers and other problem people. I think we should dispense with the turning it on at random times, and just leave the recording on 24 hours a day. How many hours of audio can a 10 TB HD hold again?
I read at +2. If your post doesn't reach that level I will not see or respond to it.
Consent for recording doesn't apply to children. Or do you think parents get their infants consent to baby monitors? In this case parental rights have been taken by the state (as they can and do for many purposes) and the state chooses to record the child. The child doesn't need to provide consent because the child does not have legal autonomy.