Google Killed Geofence Warrants. SCOTUS Heard One Anyway

The Supreme Court heard oral arguments Monday in Chatrie v. United States, the first time the justices have taken a geofence warrant case directly. A decision is expected before the term ends.

The case is a strange one to land at the Supreme Court in 2026, because the technique it asks about no longer functions the way it did when the warrant in question was issued. Google ended its ability to respond to geofence warrants more than a year ago. The pipeline that produced more than 20,000 of these warrants between 2018 and 2020 is closed. The Court is ruling on a tool that, as a practical matter, is already gone.

Here is what the tool was, how it worked, and why it stopped working.

What A Geofence Warrant Is

A traditional search warrant names a suspect or a place. The government has probable cause that a person committed a crime, and the warrant authorizes a search of that person’s home, car or accounts.

A geofence warrant works the…