Supreme Court Appears Ready to Validate Mass Location Dragnet Warrants

In Chatrie v. United States, justices signaled support for geofence warrants—law enforcement requests that compel tech companies to disclose all cellphone locations within a crime scene perimeter. The practice has exploded from under 1,000 annual requests to over 11,000 in six months. The Fourth Circuit upheld the warrants; a conflicting circuit court ruling banned them as unconstitutional. A Supreme Court decision is expected by June.