"An outlet, an outlet ... my kingdom for an outlet for my GPS monitor!"

The silly riff on a famously sad Shakespeare quote was inspired by this ruling today from the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts.  The case, as the court explains, brings "more fully into view a tension between mandatory GPS monitoring of sex offenders released on probation ... and the practical reality of homelessness -- a circumstance facing an increasing number of former sex offenders." Here are the basics from this local piece about the ruling, which is headlined "SJC: Homeless sex offenders can't be blamed for not charging GPS devices":

Convicted sex offenders should not be punished for violating the terms of their probation if they can't find a power outlet to charge their GPS monitoring devices because they're homeless, the state's highest court said today.

The Supreme Judicial Court ruled today in a case involving John W. Canadyan Jr., who was released on probation with the requirement, among other things, that he wear a GPS monitoring device.  But after Canadyan's release from prison he was living in a homeless shelter that could not provide residents with access to a reliable electrical outlet necessary for operating the GPS device, the court said.

At a probation revocation hearing, a judge found that Canadyan had violated the conditions of his probation because he had failed to make sufficient efforts to find a job that would have allowed him to find housing -- and get access to a power outlet.

But the SJC reversed that ruling. "In these circumstances, where there was no evidence of wilful noncompliance, a finding of violation of the condition of wearing an operable GPS monitoring device was unwarranted, and is akin to punishing the defendant for being homeless," the court said.