Supreme Court of the United States · Official docket →
Frank Thompson v. Carl Wilson, Commissioner, Maine Department of Marine Resources
Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, No. 25-1007 · judgment November 18, 2025
Before the decision, about 2× 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 citing three to ten dissents, and down for a state or local-government respondent.
Questions presented
Maine requires all federally-permitted lobstermen, including Petitioner Frank Thompson, to install a GPS tracker on their fishing boats and submit to 24/7 government surveillance as a condition of keeping their fishing license. The First Circuit held that the Fourth Amendment’s administrative search doctrine authorizes Maine’s trespass—even when lobstermen are not using their private fishing boats for commercial purposes. In doing so, it concluded, in conflict with the Sixth and Ninth Circuits, that Fourth Amendment trespassory protections under United States v. Jones, 565 U.S. 400 (2012), apply to criminal cases only, not to commercial cases. The questions presented are:
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Whether Maine’s requirement that lobstermen place a GPS tracking device on their private fishing vessels and submit to 24/7 surveillance constitutes an unreasonable trespassory search in violation of the Fourth Amendment?
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Whether courts must evaluate the reasonableness of a warrantless administrative search based on the Fourth Amendment’s protections against government trespass, and not solely on a business owner’s reasonable expectations of privacy?
Counsel of record
For petitioner
Mark Miller
Pacific Legal Foundation
For respondent
Valerie Ann Wright
Office of the Attorney General, State of Maine
Case
Subject area
Criminal Procedure (estimated from the questions presented, in the Supreme Court Database’s categories)
Conference history
Distributed for 2 conferences
Amicus briefs
5 cert-stage
Linked docket
25A734
Order
Order list, October 5, 2026 · Certiorari denied
Proceedings
- Oct 05 2026Petition DENIED.
- Sep 22 2026Supplemental brief of respondent Carl Wilson, Commissioner filed. (Distributed)
- Sep 09 2026Supplemental brief of petitioner Frank Thompson filed. (Distributed)
- Jul 22 2026DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 9/28/2026.
- Jul 20 2026Reply of petitioner Frank Thompson filed.
- Jul 06 2026Brief of respondent Carl Wilson, Commissioner in opposition filed.
- Jun 03 2026Response Requested. (Due July 6, 2026)
- May 26 2026DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 6/11/2026.
- May 21 2026Waiver of right of respondent Carl Wilson, Commissioner Maine Department of Marine Resources to respond filed.
- May 05 2026Letter dated May 5, 2026 from counsel for amicus curiae Liberty Justice Center filed withdrawing amicus curiae brief.
- Apr 22 2026Brief amicus curiae of Landmark Legal Foundation filed.
- Apr 22 2026Brief amicus curiae of Liberty Justice Center filed. (Brief withdrawn by letter dated May 5, 2026)
- Apr 22 2026Brief amici curiae of Cato Institute, et al. filed.
- Apr 21 2026Brief amicus curiae of Manhattan Institute filed.
- Apr 16 2026Amicus brief of American Farm Bureau Federation not accepted for filing. (To be resubmitted - April 22, 2026)
- Apr 16 2026Brief amicus curiae of American Farm Bureau Federation filed. (Re-submitted)
- Apr 15 2026Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including May 22, 2026.
- Apr 13 2026Motion to extend the time to file a response from April 22, 2026 to May 22, 2026, submitted to The Clerk.
- Mar 19 2026Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due April 22, 2026)
- Dec 22 2025Application (25A734) granted by Justice Jackson extending the time to file until March 19, 2026.
- Dec 18 2025Application (25A734) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from February 16, 2026 to March 19, 2026, submitted to Justice Jackson.