yep. one of the interesting things about Carpenter v. United States was that Chief Justice Roberts (a Bush appointee) joined the more liberal members of the court to form a 5-4 majority.
perhaps even more interesting, Trump appointee Gorsuch seemed to be saying that even more general data privacy could exist under the fourth amendment: ... it seems to me entirely possible a person's cell-site data could qualify as his papers or effects under existing law.
Yeah if one actually pays attention to what Gorsuch wrote this was more like a 6-3 decision. I almost feel like he's reaching out to Thomas with this dissent, so that next time around Thomas will feel comfortable limiting police power. I think Alito is a lost cause, and now Kennedy is gone. If Gorsuch and Thomas are both down for 4A, one could imagine Roberts joining them. At that point one could imagine a 7-2 or even 8-1 decision in favor of restoring the Fourth Amendment over all state activity. That would be great, and one could trace it back to this "concurring" dissent...
perhaps even more interesting, Trump appointee Gorsuch seemed to be saying that even more general data privacy could exist under the fourth amendment: ... it seems to me entirely possible a person's cell-site data could qualify as his papers or effects under existing law.
this offers a far better explanation than i can give: http://reason.com/blog/2018/06/22/scotus-rejects-warrantless...