United States of America, Respondent
Noel J. Francisco, Solicitor General
The Stored Communications Act of 1986 (SCA) allows law enforcement agents to request, through a Federal magistrate judge, access to the records of telecommunications companies if investigators can show they are “relevant and material to an ongoing criminal investigation.” In April 2011, Federal Bureau of Investigations agents made such a request as part of their efforts to solve a series of robberies in Ohio and Michigan. The material they gathered on one suspect, Timothy Carpenter, placed his cellphone in the range of cell towers near the scene of multiple robberies in question. Combined with the testimony of accomplices and witnesses,…
