Last mentioned: Mar 3, 2026
NCLA Amicus Filing
The New Civil Liberties Alliance files a brief urging the Supreme Court to hear the case and strike down geofencing warrants.
NCLA Amicus Filing
NCLA files a brief urging the Supreme Court to declare the practice unconstitutional.
Appellate Decision
The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals affirms the lower court's decision, upholding the use of the evidence.
Fourth Circuit Decision
The appellate court upholds the use of the geofence warrant in the Chatrie case.
District Court Ruling
A federal judge rules the geofence warrant unconstitutional but allows evidence under the good-faith exception.
District Court Ruling
The court denies the motion to suppress evidence but expresses concern over the warrant's scope.
Initial Arrest
Okello Chatrie is arrested for a bank robbery based on a geofence warrant issued to Google.
Bank Robbery Occurs
A bank in Midlothian, Virginia is robbed, leading police to seek a geofence warrant.
The New Civil Liberties Alliance (NCLA) has filed an amicus brief in Chatrie v. United States, urging the Supreme Court to declare geofencing warrants unconstitutional. The case challenges the legality of law enforcement using 'digital dragnets' to identify suspects by harvesting location data from every device within a specific geographic area.
The New Civil Liberties Alliance has filed an amicus brief in Chatrie v. United States, urging the Supreme Court to declare geofencing warrants unconstitutional. The group argues these 'reverse location' searches function as prohibited general warrants by vacuuming up private data from thousands of innocent bystanders.