One can hear the din of cellular telephones everywhere: movie theaters, libraries, and restaurants, to name a few places. While cell phones keep us connected to those who are important in our lives, the technology also has the potential of exposing our movements to others. Cellular telephone transmissions record the general locations of the users through transmissions via cell towers.1 Over the last 50 years, Fourth Amendment doctrine has continued to evolve to keep pace with technology, endeavoring to protect the privacy and security of every individual against arbitrary intrusions by government agents.2 More recently, there have been significant though conflicting judicial interpretations concerning government access to cellular telephone records (cell site location information or CSLI), which data has been essential in many criminal investigations. This article will address these cases and the legal issues they present.

Expectation of Privacy

The Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution provides:

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or thing to be seized.

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