Supreme Court of the United States · Official docket →
Jonathan Walker v. Arkansas
Paid petition · Court of Appeals of Arkansas, No. CR-22-572 · judgment May 17, 2023
Before the decision, about 1.8× the 4.1% base rate. The model weighted this up for counsel who has won certiorari before, a circuit split argued in the petition, and a petition citing one or two dissents, and down for a state or local-government respondent.
Question presented
Technology companies automatically scan trillions of digital files that are uploaded onto their servers, including emails and photographs. Their algorithms can scan for anything, from faces in photographs to the content of digital files stored in online file storage systems. The question presented is: Does the Fourth Amendment require police to get a warrant before they open a digital file that was flagged by a private technology company’s computer program as potentially containing illegal content but that no human being has previously opened?
Counsel of record
For petitioner
Easha Anand
Stanford Supreme Court Litigation Clinic
For respondent
Nicholas Jacob Bronni
Solicitor General of Arkansas
Case
Subject area
Criminal Procedure (estimated from the questions presented, in the Supreme Court Database’s categories)
Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference
Linked docket
23A446
Order
Order list, April 29, 2024 · Certiorari denied
Proceedings
- Apr 29 2024Petition DENIED.
- Apr 10 2024DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 4/26/2024.
- Apr 10 2024Reply of petitioner Jonathan Walker filed. (Distributed)
- Mar 22 2024Brief of respondent Arkansas in opposition filed.
- Feb 16 2024Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due March 22, 2024)
- Nov 17 2023Application (23A446) granted by Justice Kavanaugh extending the time to file until February 16, 2024.
- Nov 15 2023Application (23A446) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from December 20, 2023 to February 16, 2024, submitted to Justice Kavanaugh.