politics
March 26, 2026
DOJ urges Supreme Court to uphold legality of geofence warrants
The Justice Department argued Wednesday that geofence warrants are legal law enforcement tools that are “fully consistent with the Constitution,” as the widely used practice in criminal investigations is set to face scrutiny before the Supreme Court in April.
TL;DR
- The Justice Department argues geofence warrants are legal and constitutional tools for criminal investigations.
- The Supreme Court will review Okello Chatrie's claim that geofence warrants violate the Fourth Amendment.
- A geofence warrant requests data from tech companies about devices within a specified geographic area and time.
- The DOJ contends individuals have no reasonable expectation of privacy for short-term movements they opt to share with third parties.
- Chatrie's defense argues geofence warrants allow for a 'search first, develop suspicions later' approach, potentially leading to abuse.
- The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments in the case on April 27, with a decision expected by the end of June.
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