Supreme Court of the United States · Official docket →

Zainab Merchant, et al. v. Alejandro N. Mayorkas, Secretary of Homeland Security, et al.

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, No. 20-1077, 20-1081 · judgment February 9, 2021

Certiorari denied · June 28, 2021

Pre-decision estimate: 18% cert probability (95% interval 11%–30%)

Before the decision, about 4.5× the 4.1% base rate. The model weighted this up for a First Circuit decision below, a circuit split argued in the petition, and a petition filed soon after the judgment below.

Question presented

Does the Fourth Amendment require that searches of electronic devices at the U.S. border be conducted pursuant to a warrant based on probable cause, or at least pursuant to an officer’s determination of reasonable suspicion that the device contains digital contraband?

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Esha Bhandari
American Civil Liberties Union Foundation

For respondent
Brian H. Fletcher
Acting Solicitor General

Case

Subject area
Criminal Procedure (estimated from the questions presented, in the Supreme Court Database’s categories)

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

Amicus briefs
2 cert-stage

Order
Order list, June 28, 2021 · Certiorari denied

Proceedings

Jun 28 2021
Petition DENIED.
Jun 08 2021
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 6/24/2021.
Jun 04 2021
Reply of petitioner Zainab Merchant filed. (Distributed)
May 28 2021
Brief amicus curiae of Constitutional Accountability Center filed.
May 28 2021
Brief amici curiae of Center for Democracy & Technology, Brennan Center for Justice, and TechFreedom filed.
May 25 2021
Brief of respondent United States filed.
Apr 23 2021
Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due May 28, 2021)