Columbus, OH – On Monday, The Buckeye Institute filed an amicus brief in Mexican Gulf Fishing Company v. U.S. Department of Commerce asking the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals to strike down a rule that requires recreational charter fishermen in the Gulf of Mexico to submit to constant government GPS monitoring, regardless of whether they were engaged in fishing or not—a clear violation of the Fourth Amendment.

“This Orwellian tracking of charter fisherman is right out of Nineteen Eighty-Four, with the federal government monitoring the location of recreational charter fishing boats 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year,” said Jay R. Carson, senior litigator at The Buckeye Institute. “This government rule is a clear violation of the Fourth Amendment’s right to be free from unwarranted government surveillance and remarkably applies whether the captain is engaged in paid charter fishing, is fishing for recreation, or just taking the boat out for a cruise. Big Brother truly is watching.”   

Mexican Gulf Fishing Company v. U.S. Department of Commerce was filed by the New Civil Liberties Alliance and challenges a government rule that forces charter boat companies working in the Gulf of Mexico to install vessel monitoring systems, which the federal government uses to monitor boats’ movements and whereabouts, even when they are not using their federal permits to fish.

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UPDATE: On February 23, 2023, the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with arguments made by The Buckeye Institute in its amicus brief and ruled in favor of the Mexican Gulf Fishing Company, writing that the “Government committed multiple independent Administrative Procedure Act violations, and very likely violated the Fourth Amendment.”