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January 21, 2025

Courts limit warrantless digital surveillance

Judges ban warrantless backdoor searches under FISA Section 702

"James Madison demanded explicit limits on searches after seeing British general warrants and pushed the Bill of Rights in 1789. (en.wikipedia.org)"

"Olmstead v. United States, 1928, let warrantless wiretaps proceed and widened government reach. (en.wikipedia.org)"

"Civil-rights and privacy fights led to Mapp v. Ohio, 1961, which forced states to apply the exclusionary rule. (en.wikipedia.org)"

"Katz v. United States, 1967 shifted the law to a reasonable-expectation-of-privacy test and limited place-based rules. (en.wikipedia.org)"

"Carpenter v. United States and later decisions pushed privacy around digital records while United States v. Leon, 1984 created the good-faith exception. (law.cornell.edu)"

"In Nov. 2024 United States v. Mendez produced a circuit ruling that allowed manual phone searches at the border, affecting travelers. (criminallegalnews.org)"

"In 2024–2025 federal judges have blocked FBI backdoor searches and some tower-dump practices, exposing new fault lines over bulk surveillance. (theverge.com)"

"Agencies and surveillance vendors usually win access; protesters, people of color and people with mental-health crises carry most of the harm; the next fights are in the Supreme Court and state legislatures. (apnews.com)"

📜Constitutional Law🎓Education

People, bills, and sources

"James Madison"

"Author and member of the First Congress"

"Louis D. Brandeis"

"Associate Justice, U.S. Supreme Court"

"Potter Stewart"

"Associate Justice, U.S. Supreme Court"

"John G. Roberts Jr."

"Chief Justice of the United States"

"Byron White"

"Associate Justice, U.S. Supreme Court"

"Timothy Carpenter"

"Petitioner in Carpenter v. United States"

"Judge LaShann DeArcy Hall"

"U.S. District Judge"

"Judge Miranda Du"

"U.S. District Judge in Nevada"

"U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)"

"Federal border enforcement agency"

"Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)"

"Civil liberties advocacy organization"

"American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Michigan"

"Civil rights litigant and negotiator"

"Clearview AI"

"Facial recognition company"

"William Trevor Case"

"Petitioner in Case v. Montana"

What you can do

1

"understanding"

"Study Supreme Court tests and doctrines that limit this right"

"Learn the reasonable-expectation-of-privacy test from Katz, the exclusionary rule from Mapp, and modern rulings like Carpenter and Leon so you can spot when rights are being stretched."

2

"learning more"

"Follow constitutional law experts and litigation centers"

"Track briefs, pending appeals and amicus filings to see how courts are treating digital searches and surveillance."

3

"practicing"

"Practice know-your-rights scripts for interactions with police and border agents"

"Memorize concise prompts, record encounters when safe, and secure witness names. Doing so protects evidence you can later use in court or complaints."

4

"civic action"

"File official civil-rights complaints and public-records requests when searches violate rules"

"Use agency complaint forms, open-records requests and Section 1983 civil suits to document violations and force review; do this quickly to preserve remedies."

5

"civic action"

"Join or support strategic litigation and local democracy campaigns"

"Local bans, city surveillance oversight boards and coordinated lawsuits have produced police policy changes; join groups pushing legislative limits on AI and warrantless collection."

6

"civic action"

"Use technology tools to limit exposure and document abuse"

"Install device encryption, use privacy-first messaging, keep minimal location services on, and use apps or services that log interactions with officials to create auditable records."