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Carpenter V

The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in Carpenter v. United States that obtaining cell site location information from cell phones requires a search warrant. The majority opinion found that CSLI provides a detailed history of a person's movements and invades their privacy. While the dissent argued CSLI is similar to other third-party records not requiring a warrant, the majority established CSLI as constitutionally protected, departing from prior precedent. The author argues the ruling correctly affords CSLI Fourth Amendment protection given how much intimate details of a person's life it can reveal over long periods of time.

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241 views4 pages

Carpenter V

The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in Carpenter v. United States that obtaining cell site location information from cell phones requires a search warrant. The majority opinion found that CSLI provides a detailed history of a person's movements and invades their privacy. While the dissent argued CSLI is similar to other third-party records not requiring a warrant, the majority established CSLI as constitutionally protected, departing from prior precedent. The author argues the ruling correctly affords CSLI Fourth Amendment protection given how much intimate details of a person's life it can reveal over long periods of time.

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L.E.P.S.L.

January 24, 2021

L.E.P.S.L. PROGRAM
UNIVERSITY OF SAN DIEGO
LAS VEGAS METROPOLITAN POLICE
DEPARTMENT

An Analysis of Carpenter v. U.S.


(LEPSL 530 Module 2 Assignment)

Authored by:
Lieutenant Nate Chio
Page |1

Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department


400 South Martin Luther King Blvd. · Las Vegas, Nevada 89141 · (702) 828-3111 · LVMPD.COM
L.E.P.S.L. January 24, 2021

On June 22, 2018, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) decided Carpenter v. United States. In a

narrow majority of 5-4, the Court decided the disclosure of cell site location information (CSLI) from cell

phones would require a search warrant by the Government. Chief Justice Roberts delivered the opinion of the

court and Justice Kennedy wrote the dissenting opinion. The purpose of this paper is to deliver a brief analysis

of this court opinion.

The majority opinion read CSLI provides an in-depth history of a person’s physical movements which is an

invasion of privacy. In a previous decision, Griswold v. Connecticut, SCOTUS ruled the right to privacy was a

constitutional right (SCOTUS, 1965).

Although CSLI is held by a third party, SCOTUS determined it does not diminish the constitutional provisions

of the information (SCOTUS, 2018). This was a departure from a previous SCOTUS decision in United States

v. Miller which ruled records entrusted to a third party did not fall under the protection of the 4 th amendment

(Dixon, 2016).

The dissenting opinion by Justice Kennedy opined there was no difference in CSLI than other information

gathered and entrusted to third parties. The dissent relied on stare decisis, for their reasoning. Kennedy heavily

cited and referred to the previous SCOTUS decisions in U.S. v. Miller and Smith v. Maryland (SCOTUS,

2018). The Smith v. Maryland ruling established that a pen register installation and use on a suspect’s phone,

which collected the incoming and outgoing numbers, by the Government was not protected. The records were

kept by a third party and hence, were not covered under the 4 th amendment (Dixon, 2016).

The Carpenter ruling by SCOTUS was correct. Twenty-four-hour covert physical surveillance of a suspect can

be challenging for the police. The sheer physical demands and fiscal costs of these operation make it

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Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department


400 South Martin Luther King Blvd. · Las Vegas, Nevada 89141 · (702) 828-3111 · LVMPD.COM
L.E.P.S.L. January 24, 2021

impossible on a regular basis. CSLI provides this information with no effort and comparatively minimal cost to

the Government.

These types of surveillances establish a pattern of life that reveals intimate information of the person. CSLI not

only reveals the current pattern of life of the person, but also past pattern of life information since the records

can be retained for years. Chief Justice Roberts succinctly wrote, “…the time-stamped data provides an

intimate window into a person’s life, revealing not only his particular movements, but through them his

“familial, political, professional, religious, and sexual associations”. He further wrote, “Whoever the suspect

turns out to be, he has effectively been tailed every moment of every day for five years, and the police may—in

the Government’s view—call upon the results of that surveillance without regard to the constraints of the

Fourth Amendment. (SCOTUS, 2018 pg. 16).

CSLI information should be afforded constitutional protection requiring a warrant by the Government. The

oversight of a required warrant would mitigate the unnecessary risk of such private information being used by

the Government on a “hunch” or curiosity. Obtaining a search warrant is not an unreasonable requirement for

the Government to access the depth of personal information CSLI provides.

464- WORD COUNT


(14 WORDS FOR CITATIONS)

Page |3

Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department


400 South Martin Luther King Blvd. · Las Vegas, Nevada 89141 · (702) 828-3111 · LVMPD.COM
L.E.P.S.L. January 24, 2021

REFERENCES
Dixon, H. Telephone Technology versus the Fourth Amendment (2016); University of San Diego, Law
Enforcement and Public Safety Leadership, LEPS 530-Module 2: Th 4 th Amendment’s Impact on Law
Enforcement Policy & Procedure.

Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS), Carpenter v. United States, 138 S. Ct. 2206 (2018),
University of San Diego, Law Enforcement and Public Safety Leadership, LEPS 530-Module 2: Th 4 th
Amendment’s Impact on Law Enforcement Policy & Procedure.

Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS), Griswold v. Connecticut (1965) 381 U.S. 479; University of
San Diego, Law Enforcement and Public Safety Leadership, LEPS 530-Module 1: Introduction to
Constitutional Law & the Right to Privacy Impacting Law Enforcement Policy & Procedure.

Page |4

Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department


400 South Martin Luther King Blvd. · Las Vegas, Nevada 89141 · (702) 828-3111 · LVMPD.COM

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