This report discusses the case "United States v. Ubaldo" which concerns whether a gun smuggler who smuggled guns from a foreign country through the United States and then into another foreign country can be charged with a federal crime. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the conviction for conspiracy and causing the importation of weapons in violation of the Arms Export Control Act and ban on importing military firearms.

This report provides an update to a June 2017 report on the Carpenter v. United States case on government collection of cell phone location information. On June 22, 2018, the Supreme Court held in a 5-to-4 decision in Carpenter v. United States that government acquisition of historical cell site location information (CSLI) constitutes a Fourth Amendment search. The Court further held that the government needs a warrant supported by probable cause.

This report discusses the Collins decision and its potential implications for Fourth Amendment law. Facing a clash between two well-established Fourth Amendment doctrines--the primacy of the home in Fourth Amendment case law versus the "automobile exception" to the Amendment's warrant requirement--the Supreme Court in Collins v. Virginia ultimately came down on the side of protecting privacy within the home and its adjoining property.