Episode
The Fourth Amendment and the Constitutionality of Geofence Warrants
- Podcast
- Swear on the Stand
- Published
- Apr 29, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 3002
- Processing state
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Summary
This episode details an en banc ruling by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit regarding the constitutionality of geofence warrants . The case, United States v. Chatrie , examines whether law enforcement violated the Fourth Amendment by compelling Google to provide location data from all users near a 2019 bank robbery. The court ultimately affirmed the lower court's decision not to suppress the evidence, though the judges offered sharply differing justifications for this outcome. A plurality of the court avoided a broad constitutional ruling by applying the good-faith exception , concluding the officer reasonably relied on a magistrate-approved warrant. Other judges argued that no unconstitutional search occurred because the defendant voluntarily shared his movements with a third party, while the dissenting and some concurring opinions warned that such sweeping digital surveillance threatens essential privacy rights. Collectively, these opinions illustrate the judicial struggle to reconcile Founding-era protections with modern technology that allows for near-perfect retrospective tracking. This overview captures the tension between public safety interests and the individual's expectation of privacy in the digital age.