On September 13, 2017 ten U.S. citizens and a lawful permanent resident filed this lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. The plaintiffs sued the United States Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) and the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (“ICE”) under 28 U.S.C. §2201 for a declaration that the defendants had violated their First and Fourth Amendment rights and to enjoin defendants from searching or confiscating electronic devices without probable cause and expunge all collected information from plaintiffs' devices. The plaintiffs alleged that the defendants seized and then searched their electronic devices, containing expressive content and associational content, at the United States border without a warrant demonstrating probable cause that these devices contained contraband or evidence of a violation of immigration or customs laws and without describing the information to be searched.

On December 15, 2017, the defendants filed a motion to dismiss for a lack of jurisdiction and failure to state a claim. On September 13, 2017, District Judge Denise J. Casper denied the motion to dismiss finding that plaintiffs had standing to sue and pled plausible Fourth and First Amendment claims.

On April 30, 2019, the plaintiffs filed a motion for summary judgment on all claims. On June 6, 2019, the defendants also filed a motion for summary judgment. On November 12, 2019, District Judge Denise J. Casper granted the plaintiffs' motion in part and denied the defendants' motion. On the plaintiffs' Fourth Amendment claims, Judge Casper denied the plaintiff's argument that a warrant was required to search their devices at the border, but Judge Casper found that the defendants' advanced searches of the plaintiffs' devices violated the Fourth Amendment because the policy would have required a reasonable suspicion that the devices contained contraband. Judge Casper also granted summary judgment for certain plaintiffs who argued that the government required probable cause for searches of devices kept by the defendants after the plaintiffs left the border. Judge Casper denied both parties' motions for summary judgment regarding plaintiff's First Amendment claims.

Both parties have appealed to the First Circuit in January 2020. The appeals were docketed as 20-01081 and 20-01077. The case is ongoing.

Nichollas Dawson - 03/05/2018
Ashton Dubey - 11/14/2019
Chandler Hart-McGonigle - 02/20/2020


compress summary