# The Fourth Amendment and the Constitutionality of Geofence Warrants

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/swear-on-the-stand-7111404/the-fourth-amendment-and-the-constitutionality-of-geofence-warrants
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/swear-on-the-stand-7111404/the-fourth-amendment-and-the-constitutionality-of-geofence-warrants.md
Podcast: [Swear on the Stand](https://stenobird.com/podcast/swear-on-the-stand-7111404)
Published: 2026-04-29T14:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/danielswear/episodes/The-Fourth-Amendment-and-the-Constitutionality-of-Geofence-Warrants-e3i9v0j
Audio file: https://anchor.fm/s/fddb5314/podcast/play/118864339/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2026-3-22%2F63fb96aa-3fc8-360a-d9e7-9d11b93abc3e.m4a
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Duration seconds: 3002

## Resource

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.

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## Transcript

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