Supreme Court says geofence warrants violate the Fourth Amendment in Chatrie v. United States ruling
Source: KVUE-TV Austin, TX
Published: 9:18 AM CDT June 29, 2026
Updated: 9:36 AM CDT June 29, 2026
WASHINGTON The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday issued a ruling on a man's challenge to a "geofence warrant" used by police to access cellphone location data near a crime scene leading to his conviction for armed robbery.
By a vote of 6 to 3, the justices ruled in favor of the defendant, who argued he was subjected to an illegal search and that evidence in his case should be excluded.
The defendant argued geofence warrants violated the Fourth Amendment.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated. For background on the case, read below.
Chatrie v. United States is a case that focuses on the constitutionality of law enforcement agencies using "geofence warrants" to determine who was in a particular location at a particular time.
Read more: https://www.kvue.com/article/news/nation-world/supreme-court-geofence-warrant-case/507-7ca7779b-c117-4518-b9d8-8b6ff92bd8bc
Link to ORDER (PDF) - https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25pdf/25-112_0am4.pdf
Article updated.
Original article -
Updated: 9:18 AM CDT June 29, 2026
WASHINGTON -- By a vote of 6 to 3, the justices ruled that geofence warrants violated the Fourth Amendment, siding with a plaintiff in a key privacy ruling.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated. For background on the case, read below.
Chatrie v. United States is a case that focuses on the constitutionality of law enforcement agencies using "geofence warrants" to determine who was in a particular location at a particular time.
A geofence warrant is a court order to a tech company like Google to provide data on every smartphone or internet-connected device within a defined geographic area during a specific time frame.
Fiendish Thingy
(24,499 posts)ruet
(10,329 posts)-William Blackstone
not fooled
(6,823 posts)could or were convicted on photo evidence. Weren't almost all photographed to the level of identification?
ruet
(10,329 posts)Elena Kagan wrote the majority opinion. Who were the morons who thought this was constitutional. I'm going to guess Trump appointees. If true, that's further evidence that the court, as currently constructed. is a political instrument.
EDIT: After seeing more of todays' rulings, Trump really took a beating.
SamuelAdams
(367 posts)Bengus81
(10,604 posts)bucolic_frolic
(56,356 posts)What good is a police state without a dragnet?