A federal judge in Mississippi rules that “tower dump” warrants are unconstitutional, keeping in place a lower court decision that rejected the government’s request to obtain such warrants for violent-crime investigations. The ruling addresses a practice in which law enforcement asks cellular providers to disclose time and location data for mobile devices connected to specific cell towers during a defined time period. In the case described in the decision, authorities sought several warrants tied to gang-related activity in and around Jackson, Mississippi, arguing the information could help identify individuals who might be involved, including when suspects are unknown.
A magistrate judge denied the applications, reasoning that “tower dumps” function like impermissible general warrants. The district judge agreed, stating that even if police can identify potential suspects, the warrants also grant access to data for many people who are not alleged to be involved in the crime and may have simply been near the location at the relevant time. The order cites the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Chatrie v. United States, which held that geofence warrants require constitutional privacy protections. The judge concludes that the challenged warrants constitute an unreasonable search under the Fourth Amendment.
