Chatrie v. United States · ¶83

The Court correctly observes that allowing the Government to “access all of a cell-phone user’s movements” without limit essentially arms it with “a virtual panopticon with which to scrutinize its citizens’ activities.” Ante, at 21. It is for this reason that law enforcement and courts must carefully abide by the Fourth Amendment’s instruction that “no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.” The Fourth Circuit should keep this instruction in mind on remand when evaluating the constitutionality of the multi-step search that occurred here, especially at steps two and three.

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