Carpenter v. United States
| Docket No. | Op. Below | Argument | Opinion | Vote | Author | Term |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16-402 | 6th Cir. | Nov 29, 2017 | Jun 22, 2018 | 5-4 | Roberts | OT 2017 |
Holding: The government"s acquisition of Timothy Carpenter"s cell-site records from his wireless carriers was a Fourth Amendment search; the government did not obtain a warrant supported by probable cause before acquiring those records.
Judgment: Reversed and remanded, 5-4, in an opinion by Chief Justice Roberts on June 22, 2018. Justice Kennedy filed a dissenting opinion, in which Justices Thomas and Alito joined. Justice Thomas filed a dissenting opinion. Justice Alito filed a dissenting opinion, in which Justice Thomas joined. Justice Gorsuch filed a dissenting opinion.
SCOTUSblog Coverage
- The Annual: OT2017 in Review (First Mondays, July 9, 2018)
- OT2017 #30: "Most Ambitious Crossovers" (First Mondays, June 25, 2018)
- A "view" from the courtroom: "Some good and hard thinking on all sides" (Mark Walsh, June 22, 2018)
- Opinion analysis: Court holds that police will generally need a warrant for sustained cellphone location information (Updated) (Amy Howe, June 22, 2018)
- OT2017 #9: "Peak SG" (First Mondays, December 11, 2017)
- OT2017 #8: "Bespoke but Blank" (First Mondays, December 4, 2017)
- Argument analysis: Drawing a line on privacy for cellphone records, but where? (Amy Howe, November 29, 2017)
- OT2017 #7: "Keys to a Valet" (First Mondays, November 27, 2017)
- Argument preview: The justices return to cellphones and the Fourth Amendment (Amy Howe, November 22, 2017)
- In Recess #3: "Third Class Webelo" (First Mondays, August 14, 2017)
- Symposium: Carpenter and the eyewitness rule (Orin Kerr, August 4, 2017)
- Symposium: Millions of tiny constables – Time to set the record straight on the Fourth Amendment and location-data privacy (Alan Butler, August 3, 2017)
- Symposium: Will the Fourth Amendment protect 21st-century data? The court confronts the third-party doctrine (Jennifer Lynch, August 2, 2017)
- Symposium: A defense of the doctrine (David LaBahn, August 2, 2017)
- Symposium: Justices poised to consider, or reconsider, Fourth Amendment doctrines as they assess the scope of privacy in a digital age (John Castellano, August 1, 2017)
- Symposium: Granular analysis versus doctrine in Carpenter (Jim Harper, August 1, 2017)
- The justices return to cellphones and the Fourth Amendment: In Plain English (Amy Howe, July 31, 2017)
- Justices to tackle cellphone data case next term (Amy Howe, June 5, 2017)
- Petition of the day (Kate Howard, November 1, 2016)
| Date | Proceedings and Orders |
|---|---|
| 09/26/2016 | Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due October 28, 2016) |
| 10/21/2016 | Order extending time to file response to petition to and including November 28, 2016. |
| 10/28/2016 | Brief amici curiae of Electronic Frontier Foundation, et al. filed. |
| 10/28/2016 | Brief amicus curiae of Cato Institute filed. |
| 11/21/2016 | Order further extending time to file response to petition to and including December 28, 2016. |
| 12/15/2016 | Order further extending time to file response to petition to and including January 27, 2016. |
| 01/27/2017 | Brief of respondent United States in opposition filed. |
| 02/10/2017 | Reply of petitioner Timothy Ivory Carpenter filed. |
| 02/15/2017 | DISTRIBUTED for Conference of March 3, 2017. |
| 02/23/2017 | Rescheduled. |
| 03/22/2017 | DISTRIBUTED for Conference of April 13, 2017. |
| 04/17/2017 | DISTRIBUTED for Conference of April 21, 2017. |
| 04/24/2017 | DISTRIBUTED for Conference of April 28, 2017. |
| 05/08/2017 | DISTRIBUTED for Conference of May 11, 2017. |
| 05/15/2017 | DISTRIBUTED for Conference of May 18, 2017. |
| 05/22/2017 | DISTRIBUTED for Conference of May 25, 2017. |
| 05/30/2017 | DISTRIBUTED for Conference of June 1, 2017. |
| 06/05/2017 | Petition GRANTED. |
| 06/22/2017 | The time to file the joint appendix and petitioner's brief on the merits is extended to and including August 7, 2017. |
| 06/22/2017 | The time to file respondent's brief on the merits is extended to and including September 25, 2017. |
| 07/11/2017 | Consent to the filing of amicus curiae briefs in support of either party or neither party received from counsel for the petitioner. |
| 07/12/2017 | Motion for leave to proceed further herein in forma pauperis filed by petitioner Timothy I. Carpenter. |
| 07/12/2017 | Motion to appoint counsel filed by petitioner Timothy I. Carpenter. |
| 07/26/2017 | Consent to the filing of amicus curiae briefs in support of either or neither party received from counsel for the respondent. |
| 08/02/2017 | DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 9/25/2017. |
| 08/07/2017 | Joint appendix filed. |
| 08/07/2017 | Brief of petitioner Timothy I. Carpenter filed. |
| 08/11/2017 | Brief amici curiae of Data & Society Research Institute and Fifteen scholars of Technology and Society filed. |
| 08/11/2017 | Brief amici curiae of Competitive Enterprise Institute, et al. filed. |
| 08/14/2017 | Brief amici curiae of Technology Companies in support of neither party filed. |
| 08/14/2017 | Brief amicus curiae of Center for Democracy and Technology filed. |
| 08/14/2017 | Brief amici curiae of Electronic Privacy Information Center, et al. filed. |
| 08/14/2017 | Brief amicus curiae of The Rutherford Institute filed. |
| 08/14/2017 | Brief amici curiae of The Center for Competitive Politics, et al. filed. |
| 08/14/2017 | Brief amici curiae of Empirical Fourth Amendment Scholars filed. |
| 08/14/2017 | Brief amici curiae of Scholars of the History and Original Meaning of the Fourth Amendment filed. |
| 08/14/2017 | Brief amici curiae of The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, et al. filed. |
| 08/14/2017 | Brief amicus curiae of Restore the Fourth, Inc. filed. |
| 08/14/2017 | Brief amici curiae of Institute for Justice, et al. filed. |
| 08/14/2017 | Brief amici curiae of Electronic Frontier Foundation, et al. filed. |
| 08/14/2017 | Brief amici curiae of Scholars of Criminal Procedure and Privacy filed. |
| 08/14/2017 | Brief amici curiae of United States Justice Foundation, et al. filed. |
| 08/14/2017 | Brief amici curiae of Technology Experts filed. |
| 09/25/2017 | Brief of respondent United States filed. |
| 09/29/2017 | Brief amicus curiae of Michael Varco filed. |
| 10/02/2017 | Motion for leave to proceed further herein in forma pauperis granted by the Court |
| 10/02/2017 | Motion to appoint counsel filed by petitioner GRANTED and Harold Gurewitz, Esquire, of Detroit, Michigan, is appointed to serve as counsel for the petitioner in this case. |
| 10/02/2017 | Brief amici curiae of Alabama, et al. filed. |
| 10/02/2017 | Brief amicus curiae of Professor Orin S. Kerr filed. |
| 10/02/2017 | Brief amicus curiae of National District Attorneys Association filed. |
| 10/06/2017 | SET FOR ARGUMENT ON Wednesday, November 29, 2017 |
| 10/12/2017 | CIRCULATED |
| 10/18/2017 | Record requested from the U.S.C.A. 6th Circuit. |
| 10/23/2017 | Record received from the U.S.C.A. 6th Circuit is electronic. |
| 10/24/2017 | Reply of petitioner Timothy I. Carpenter filed. (Distributed) |
| 11/29/2017 | Argued. For petitioner: Nathan F. Wessler, New York, N. Y. For respondent: Michael R. Dreeben, Deputy Solicitor General, Department of Justice, Washington, D. C. |
| 06/22/2018 | Judgment REVERSED and case REMANDED. Roberts, C. J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which Ginsburg, Breyer, Sotomayor, and Kagan, JJ., joined. Kennedy, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which Thomas and Alito, JJ., joined. Thomas, J., filed a dissenting opinion. Alito, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which Thomas, J., joined. Gorsuch, J., filed a dissenting opinion. |
| 07/24/2018 | JUDGMENT ISSUED. |