Jania Vance
2/09/2026
LEGAL420
Daniel A. Alvarez, Esquire
The Fourth Amendment was authorized on December 15, 1791, designed in order to help protect
individuals from unreasonable searches and seizures and also help to protect individuals'
privacy.
The Supreme Court case Carpenter v. United States (2018) was a Supreme Court case that
addressed and reshaped the expectations of how the Fourth Amendment applies to modern-day
technology.
Although it was argued that due to the third-party doctrine, they were exempt from the protection
of the Fourth Amendment, during the Carpenter V United States case, the Supreme Court had
ruled the act to be unconstitutional and declared it to be a violation of the Fourth Amendment to
obtain an individual's cell phone information and their records without a warrant or probable
cause.
During the Carpenter v. United States trial, Chief Justice Roberts delivered the majority opinion
that the warrantless cell phone records search was deemed unconstitutional despite the third-
party doctrine because cell-site location phone records reveal detailed and personal information
regarding that individual, so seizing this information without a warrant was a violation of the
Fourth Amendment.
The four justices Gorsuch, Alito, Thomas, and Kennedy had disagreeing opinions against the
majority’s decision of the ruling.
Justice Gorsuch had disagreed with the majority ruling as well as the third-party doctrine. He
believed that both laws should be re-evaluated and made to be understood more clearly in order
to better protect citizens' rights with modern technology.
Justice Alito argued that the final ruling was a form of judicial overreach, stating how the final
decision would change how the Fourth Amendment would affect future cases dealing with
modern technology.
2/09/2026
LEGAL420
Daniel A. Alvarez, Esquire
The Fourth Amendment was authorized on December 15, 1791, designed in order to help protect
individuals from unreasonable searches and seizures and also help to protect individuals'
privacy.
The Supreme Court case Carpenter v. United States (2018) was a Supreme Court case that
addressed and reshaped the expectations of how the Fourth Amendment applies to modern-day
technology.
Although it was argued that due to the third-party doctrine, they were exempt from the protection
of the Fourth Amendment, during the Carpenter V United States case, the Supreme Court had
ruled the act to be unconstitutional and declared it to be a violation of the Fourth Amendment to
obtain an individual's cell phone information and their records without a warrant or probable
cause.
During the Carpenter v. United States trial, Chief Justice Roberts delivered the majority opinion
that the warrantless cell phone records search was deemed unconstitutional despite the third-
party doctrine because cell-site location phone records reveal detailed and personal information
regarding that individual, so seizing this information without a warrant was a violation of the
Fourth Amendment.
The four justices Gorsuch, Alito, Thomas, and Kennedy had disagreeing opinions against the
majority’s decision of the ruling.
Justice Gorsuch had disagreed with the majority ruling as well as the third-party doctrine. He
believed that both laws should be re-evaluated and made to be understood more clearly in order
to better protect citizens' rights with modern technology.
Justice Alito argued that the final ruling was a form of judicial overreach, stating how the final
decision would change how the Fourth Amendment would affect future cases dealing with
modern technology.
