Derrick Lucius Williams, Jr. v. United States
FourthAmendment CriminalProcedure Privacy
Whether government agents need reasonable suspicion to conduct a warrantless forensic search of a digital device at the border
QUESTION PRESENTED When Petitioner Derrick Williams arrived from Europe at Denver International Airport, government agents seized his laptop, used forensic software to break the password and copy its data bit-for-bit, and then searched the files. The agents had neither a warrant nor suspicion that Mr. Williams was inadmissible, smuggling contraband, or evading customs duties. The question presented is: To conduct a warrantless forensic search of a digital device at the border, do government agents need reasonable suspicion that the device contains digital contraband (as the Ninth Circuit requires), reasonable suspicion that the device contains evidence of a particular crime with a nexus to the purposes of the border search exception to the warrant requirement (as the Fourth Circuit requires), reasonable suspicion of any kind of criminal activity (which suffices in the Tenth Circuit), or no suspicion whatsoever (as the Eleventh Circuit permits)?