| Date: | 03/26/2019 |
|---|---|
| Organization: | Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court |
Commonwealth v. Feliz
Supreme Judicial Court, March 26, 2019
(Sentencing/GPS Monitoring)
“Mandatory, blanket imposition of GPS monitoring on probationers under G.L. c. 256, §47, absent individualized determinations of reasonableness, is unconstitutional under the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights.”
Art. 14 requires a judge to make an individualized determination of ‘reasonableness’ to impose GPS monitoring as a condition of probation under G.L. c. 256, §47. At a hearing the Commonwealth must give the judge a particularized reason(s) to show that the GPS requirement furthers its interests in protecting the public from sex offenders, and that the reason(s) outweigh the privacy intrusion on the defendant.