Welcome to Court Watch #134. To prepare for this issue, we tasted George Clooney’s liquor, hugged a puppy, judgingly scrolled Pinterest, and told our dishwasher we knew a guy if it didn't get our plates spotless. We also took a trip down memory lane to 1985, where the docket entries are sparse but the font choice is on point. We assure you this will all make sense once you get through today’s roundup. But first, let’s talk about the Justice Department taking another bite at the constitutional apple.
Denial Is a River in Mississippi
The Justice Department tried and failed again to convince a federal judge to sign off on a series of search warrants for information related to everyone near six cell towers in Mississippi. With ten days left to decide whether the DOJ wants to give up a well-worn law enforcement technique, the clock is ticking.
Judges have previously authorized the use of so-called “tower dumps,” a common investigative practice by law enforcement, numerous times. Yet, one federal magistrate in Mississippi broke from the long chain of rubber-stamping the expansive investigative approach in a February order. Citing a 2024 holding by the Fifth Circuit that struck down geo-fence warrants – another frequent method used by investigators to determine which cell phones are present in a fixed area – as unconstitutional, Judge Andrew Harris found that tower dumps, too, clashed with the Fourth Amendment. Together, the cases may have significant ramifications for the way law enforcement conducts investigations in the digital age.
The Justice Department has so far had an uncharacteristically quiet response, repeatedly asking the court for more time to decide whether prosecutors will appeal Judge Harris’s decision. Traditionally, the Justice Department has been quick to appeal rulings that limit the power of law enforcement, raising eyebrows about the delay in this case. A final motion on whether the prosecutors will appeal is due to the court on July 21st.
In the meantime, new filings show that prosecutors resubmitted the warrants to target a narrower scope of data in an apparent effort to change the court’s mind. The new warrants asked the Judge to approve data dumps from six tower locations over a total of six hours, a decrease from the nine towers over fourteen hours that law enforcement had initially requested in February. Prosecutors also stated that investigators would not be able to access the data of devices that appear at one location, allowing agents to access only the cell data for devices that connected to multiple towers near crime scenes in the case.
Judge Andrew Harris, however, was unmoved by the second attempt, writing in his most recent order, “The problem that persists in the current warrant applications is that if the Court were to issue the warrants, it would be authorizing the Government to search the data for every cellular device (including cell phones) of every single individual near the crime scenes without a showing of probable cause as to each individual. And while the applications say that the team investigating the crimes at issue here will not have access to data for any devices that appear at only one of the six locations—presumptive innocent bystanders for whom there is no probable cause—the Government will have obtained that data and searched it to identify and cull relevant devices, i.e., those appearing at more than one of the targeted locations. As in Smith, and as with the previous applications, the tower-dump warrant applications ‘present the exact sort of “general, exploratory rummaging” that the Fourth Amendment was designed to prevent.’”
Prosecutors have just ten days to decide whether to appeal the case. Regardless, Judge Harris’s decision potentially marks the start of a wave of Fourth Amendment challenges to tower dumps that will reverberate beyond Mississippi. The U.S. Attorney’s office for the Southern District of Mississippi did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
However, a ruling late Thursday evening made note that “the United States requests this case be sealed.”
Docket Roundup
We’re very much here for tea involving Hulk Hogan’s Real American beer distribution. Bloomberg Law has the write-up.
In PACER history lore, today marks the 40th year of this docket being continuously updated.
The feds say a man created a fake Pakistani film company, got visas from other film companies in Ecuador, Colombia, and Cuba, and used the visas to try to smuggle people into the U.S.
Judge: Can you make a good argument why I shouldn’t just use someone else’s work?
Do you quietly track random dockets in Texas for years on the off chance they have a filing of importance so you can tip off a very good reporter? Yes, yes we do.
It’s infuriating that academics have to file a motion with the courts to get free access to public records. Also, side note, we let the researcher know that if the court denies her request, Court Watch will cover the costs. Spite is a powerful thing.
An Oklahoma man who tried to blow up an old dishwasher and accidentally blew himself up was indicted this week, as feds uncovered a large stash of explosives and videos on his phone of exploding appliances in the yard.
We, too, would like answers to these vital questions.
Plaintiffs in a Biden-era settlement with families that were separated during immigration enforcement say that ICE has arrested a number of its class action members (including a 13-year-old boy).
Homeland Security Investigations seized $800,000 in two suitcases at the airport.
Ten people in Texas were charged with attempted murder of correctional officers and ICE agents. Citing, in part, self-censorship and reputational concerns, academia has largely ceded the study of left-wing extremism in recent years. Unencumbered by biases, we press on. Our latest peer-reviewed article on left-wing extremism is here. Meanwhile, the feds have charged another man separately as part of the plot, for allegedly trying to destroy evidence.
A lawsuit says that Pinterest has been crawling the internet to steal copyrighted images.
The fact that the IRS gave a sovereign citizen only $300,000, instead of the $500,000 he originally requested, is impressive.
As an aside, all crime continues to be legal in Alaska (we’re now at two weeks with no public federal charges filed).
PETA is suing the American Kennel Club.
A Department of Energy Counterintelligence employee was charged with trying to bribe colleagues for contracts for his company.
Honestly, no notes, this is the best lawsuit name ever.
Sovereign Citizens continue to have the best headers for their lawsuits.
In a civil lawsuit, a Chinese company is accused of stealing the specs for superconductors.
The conservative news site Headline USA got a scooplet this week about two individuals charged with providing a rifle to a man accused of trying to kill President Trump.
Gun Owners of America is seemingly judge shopping their way towards a major gun rights victory.
Maryland federal courts continue to have to dive deep on the bench to address an Administration lawsuit.
George Clooney’s tequila may not be what it says it is.
In what will surely be the next James Gunn film, a Peter Thiel fellow is accused of stealing the secrets of weather modification.
DOJ is going after California for the price of their eggs.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in LA quietly dropped the charges against an American who was accused of resisting arrest by Border Patrol Agents.
Speaking of which, that same office let go of its appeal against a man accused of attacking an ICE agent, whose charges were dropped when one of the agent’s colleagues talked to the defendant in court.
You may recognize our song of the week when it was covered poorly a few years back by a country band, but the original by Will Hoge is so much better. Also, if you’re like us, and now down a Will Hoge rabbit hole, may we humbly suggest this one too. We’re gonna pick up tickets to see him play in November in Ram’s Head in Annapolis, Maryland. If you’re in the area, and coming to the show, drop us a note and we’ll buy your first round at the venue.
There’s more court cases below, but first, a free ad for Status. The folks over there have been churning out scoops. We thought we should give them an ad shoutout.
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A D.C. judge spent 35 pages lamenting that he was powerless to do anything about a cancelled grant. Writing in an opinion, Judge Mehta notes, “There is no doubt in the court’s mind that OJP’s award terminations were unfair and indiscriminate. When a government agency, especially the Department of Justice, agrees to fund private organizations to carry out a public purpose, such organizations expect regularity and respectful treatment. That is not what occurred here. The court laments that the limits of its own power prevent it from helping Plaintiffs and similarly situated grantees. But the court cannot cure an injustice by exceeding its own authority."
We’re just clever enough to realize that Mark Zaid, a lawyer who had his security clearance revoked by the President, is probably low-key using this pre-publication review lawsuit to argue his pending lawsuit against the Administration.
It’s flying under the radar, but fired Twitter employees are playing for keeps against Elon Musk.
Repetition is the fastest way to catch a federal charge: “The two passengers in the next row up in seats 30 D and 30 F heard TAYLOR say “I have a bomb” at least two times. They also heard Witness One say “Why would you say that” to which TAYLOR responded, “This is a bomb.”
Mr. Beast continues to argue that mass curing blindness is a trade secret.
Columbia University was sued for not protecting the personal information of its students. A NYC mayoral candidate has not joined the lawsuit.
It was a tough competition, but we may have found the worst person in the dockets this week.
God speed. A man who lost 10 million dollars is suing his pig butchering scammers.
Doc Antle, who appeared in the pandemic-era Netflix hit Tiger King, was sentenced to a year in prison.
The Justice Department says it arrested a prolific Chinese hacker.
Your honors, you’ve been served.
A man accused of posting threats against President Trump and Attorney General Bondi reportedly told law enforcement, “he was smoking a lot of marijuana when he posted the threat.”
The CEO of Live Entertainment was indicted for allegedly rigging a bid process to buy a sports arena in Austin, Texas.
An Oregon judge ordered immigration authorities to release a Mexican man they had detained despite his compelling grounds for asylum and cooperation.
Lawyers for WilmerHale in its case against the Trump administration over the EO targeting it said a “disgruntled former contractor” shouldn’t be able to join in on the case.
Mike Lindell’s attorneys were sanctioned over AI hallucinations.
Thanks for reading.