Gregory Rosen and Timothy Wieroniey Author Law360 Article on SCOTUS Geofence Warrants Case

Rogers Joseph O’Donnell, PC shareholder Gregory P. Rosen and associate Timothy Wieroniey authored a Law360 article on the U.S. Supreme Court case Okello T. Chatrie v. U.S. and how it could significantly shape the future of digital privacy and law enforcement surveillance. 

The case centers on whether geofence warrants, which allow police to obtain location data from cellular devices within a defined geographic area and time frame, violate the Fourth Amendment’s protections against unreasonable searches. The case arose from a 2019 armed robbery investigation in Virginia, where law enforcement obtained a search warrant for location history data stored by Google within a defined area during a specified period of time.

Rosen and Wieroniey analyze oral arguments before the Supreme Court and suggest the justices appear skeptical of both the government’s broad position that no warrant is required and the petitioner’s argument that geofence warrants are categorically unconstitutional.

“The court took this case against the backdrop of a genuine circuit split and a technology that, however obsolete at Google, will almost certainly resurface in other forms with other data brokers. Punting on the merits would leave lower courts without meaningful guidance precisely when they need it most,” Rosen and Wieroniey write. 

Find a PDF of the article here. 

A member of RJO’s White-Collar Criminal Defense and Government Contracts Practice Groups, Rosen represents clients in criminal and regulatory matters involving the False Claims Act, particularly in the field of government contracts, procurement and federal fund recipient fraud. He also handles high-stakes financial and regulatory investigations, among other matters.

Wieroniey is a member of the firm’s Construction, Cybersecurity and Privacy and Government Contracts practice groups. He focuses on representing national healthcare companies, government contractors and members of the United States Defense Industrial Base.