Oral Argument Preview: Chatrie vs. United States

4 hours ago

The Supreme Court will hear Chatrie v. United States on April 27, 2026, to address the constitutionality of geofence warrants under the Fourth Amendment.
Geofence warrants compel service providers like Google to disclose location data for devices within a specific area and time to identify suspects, with usage rising sharply.
Chatrie arose from a 2019 bank robbery; police obtained a warrant for Google's Location History data, leading to Chatrie's identification after a three-step anonymization process.
The Fourth Circuit initially ruled no Fourth Amendment search occurred due to the third-party doctrine, but after en banc review, it was deeply split, leading to Supreme Court review.
Chatrie argues geofence warrants are unconstitutional searches violating privacy and property interests, akin to general warrants, while the government claims no reasonable expectation of privacy exists for voluntarily shared short-term location data.
Amicus briefs from tech companies, civil liberties groups, and others largely oppose geofence warrants, citing privacy risks, lack of particularity, and civil rights implications.
The case's outcome could significantly impact law enforcement's use of digital surveillance tools and set precedents for Fourth Amendment protections in the technological age.

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