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Constitutional Law Keyed to Barnett
Carpenter v. United States
Citation:
138 S. Ct. 2206 (2017)Facts
Every time a cell phone connects with a “cell-site” (radio antennas that are fixed on structures), it generates a time-stamped record. Wireless carriers collect the cell-site locations for their own business purposes. Petitioner Carpenter was identified as an accomplice in a series of robberies of Radio Shacks in Michigan. Prosecutors applied for court orders to obtain the cell phone records under a statute called the Stored Communications Act, which allows the Government to compel disclosure of telecommunications records when there are “specific and articulable facts showing that there are reasonable grounds to believe” the records are “relevant and material to an ongoing criminal investigations.”
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