United States v. Graham: US Federal Appeals Court for the 4th Circuit, No. 12-4659

A 31 May 2016 US federal appeals court decision holding that the police did not need to obtain a warrant to receive cell-site location data for two bank robbery suspects1 generated many privacy related headlines. Looking behind those headlines, however, demonstrates that the Court simply followed other federal appeals court rulings in their interpretation of US law. All of these appeals courts ruled that the US Government can obtain cell site location data as long as a court order is issued pursuant to the federal law known as the Stored Communications Act.

The facts

This case began in early 2011, with a series of six armed robberies of businesses located in and around Baltimore,Maryland. The jury found that each of the robberies involved Aaron Graham acting alone or in concert with others.

Read the full article: United States v Graham US Federal Appeals Court for the 4th Circuit No 12-4659