Judge Lauck of the Eastern District of Virginia recently handed down the long-awaited opinion in United States v. Chatrie, on how the Fourth Amendment applies to geofencing warrants. I believe this is the first Article III judicial opinion on the subject. Geofence warrants raise some really interesting Fourth Amendment issues, and we're likely to hear more about those issues. Given that, I thought I would offer my take on the opinion.
My reaction, unfortunately, is pretty critical. I really appreciate the care Judge Lauck put into the case, including building an extensive record. But I also think the reasoning of the decision has some major problems. In particular, I am not sure the execution of geofence warrants involve a Fourth Amendment search at all. And if they do, then I think the Fourth Amendment standard is a lot less strict than Judge Lauck concludes it is.
This post explains my concerns. I'll start with a general background on geofence warrants and then turn to the facts of the case. I'll next cover the court's reasoning, and explain why I think key parts of the opinion are not persuasive. How the Fourth Amendment applies to geofence warrants raises some tricky issues. But I don't think this opinion points in the right direction to help find the answers.
