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‘Possible Cause’ Is All That’s Needed for Geofence Warrants

Loaded on March 15, 2022 by Douglas Ankney published in Criminal Legal News April, 2022, page 50
Filed under: Police State-Surveillance, Electronic Surveillance. Location: Wisconsin.

by Douglas Ankney

Thousands of protesters stormed the streets of Kenosha, Wisconsin, in response to yet another killing of a Black man. At the Kenosha Public Library, lighter fluid and rags were found in a window well. There were no eyewitnesses to the incident. Agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (“ATF”) established a geofence for a period of two hours.

A geofence is a dragnet cast by cops using GPS datapoints and cellphone information obtained from companies like Google to determine who was in the area within the specified time period. To access the information, police use a geofence warrant (also known as a reverse warrant). Probable cause isn’t necessary. Law enforcement can identify you—as it’s possible cause you were there.

On the night of the geofence surrounding the library, thousands of innocent protesters likely gathered in the nearby park. It was the most logical meeting place. But the geofence and their cellphones have made them eligible for a face-to-face encounter with a federal agent. It’s possible, cause they were there, right?

A team of 50 arson investigators from the ATF were deployed to Kenosha to solve the many arsons in the wake of the protest. So far, six unsealed warrants show persistent efforts to use Google’s location services to identify Android users within the many geofences established around arson incidents. At least seven geographical zones were targeted for periods as long as two hours.

The next time a crime happens in your neighborhood, don’t be surprised if an agent knocks on your door. It’s possible cause you were there.   

Source: techdirt.com

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  1. A Guide to Getting the Most Out of a Plea Bargain, by Jacob Barrett
  2. Second Circuit: District Court Required to Explain Rationale for Reducing Sentence to ‘Time Served’ Under First Step Act but Refused to Reduce Supervised Release Portion of Sentence Despite Being Longer Than New Mandatory Minimum, by Dale Chappell
  3. What You Need to Know Before Contacting a Conviction Integrity Unit, by Kia Hall Hayes, Marissa Boyers Bluestine
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  5. Man Rejects Plea Deal and Is Sentenced to 110 Years in Colorado Prison for Doing So, by Ashleigh Dye
  6. Systematic Lying in Plea Bargaining Is a Feature, Not a Flaw, by David Reutter
  7. Iowa Supreme Court Clarifies When Forensic Interviews of Child Complaining Witnesses Are Admissible, by Douglas Ankney
  8. Sixth Circuit: Government Violated Plea Agreement by Arguing for Sentence Exceeding Guidelines Range, Despite Promise Not to ‘Suggest in Any Way’ Variance Is Appropriate, by David Reutter
  9. Tenth Circuit: Where Defendant Actually Sentenced to Drug Treatment and Probation Rather Than 28-32 Months in Prison as Per State Sentencing Guidelines, Conviction Can’t Serve as Predicate ‘Felony’ for 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1), by Dale Chappell
  10. ACLU Report Suggests Disturbing Pattern of Police Surveilling Protests to Identify People Peacefully Protesting Police Brutality
  11. Plea Bargaining: An Illegitimate System to Administer Justice?, by David Reutter
  12. First Circuit: Appellate Counsel’s Failure to Raise Brady Claim on Direct Appeal Constituted Ineffective Assistance of Counsel Under Strickland, § 2255 Motion Granted, by Anthony Accurso
  13. Ending Eyewitness Memory Contamination, by Matthew Clarke
  14. Fourth Circuit: Bodily Injury Sentence Enhancement for Robbery Inapplicable Where Victim Sustained ‘Momentary’ Injury and Sought ‘Precautionary’ Medical Treatment, by Jacob Barrett
  15. Iowa Supreme Court Reverses Conviction Where Prosecutor Allowed to Amend Trial Information at Trial to Charge a ‘Wholly New and Different Offense’, by David Reutter
  16. Texas Court of Criminal Appeals: Trial Court Did Not Abuse Discretion by Granting Rule 508 Motion to Dismiss Capital Murder Charge Where State Refused to Disclose Identity of Confidential Informant, by Douglas Ankney
  17. Vermont Supreme Court Announces Rule 12.1 Doesn’t Require Notice of Diminished Capacity Defense When Expert Testimony Won’t Be Used, by Matthew Clarke
  18. California Court of Appeal: Hearing on Discretionary Resentencing Under §1170.91(b)(1) for U.S. Servicemembers Requires Only That Petition Allege Defendant ‘May’ Be Suffering From a ‘Qualifying Condition’, by Douglas Ankney
  19. Fifth Circuit: Aggravated Assault in Texas Does Not Qualify as Aggravated Felony Under 8 U.S.C. § 1326(b)(2), Reentry With Prior Aggravated Felony, by Jacob Barrett
  20. Massachusetts Supreme Court: Prosecution Failed to Prove Defendant Knowingly, Voluntarily, and Intelligently Waived Right to Counsel After Having Asked for Lawyer Earlier But Officer Continued to Engage in ‘General’ Talk for Nearly 45 Minutes, by Anthony Accurso
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  27. Fear and Freedom Twenty Years Later: How Post 9/11 Security Measures Overstepped Privacy, by Ashleigh Dye
  28. FBI Program Surveils Subject for 24 Days Using Spy Planes, by Anthony Accurso
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  30. Google Confirms Increasing Police Reliance on Geofence Warrants, by Anthony Accurso
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  33. NYPD Using Secret Money for Surveillance Tech, by Anthony Accurso
  34. Dangers of Data Gathering by Los Angeles Police Department, by Edward Lyon
  35. Geofencing Warrants Are Putting Civil Rights and Free Speech in Jeopardy, by Dale Chappell
  36. Oregon Bans Police Lying to Obtain Confessions from Juveniles, by Jacob Barrett
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