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Orin Kerr

Orin Kerr

@orinkerr.bsky.social

32K followers 930 following 2.4K posts

Professor, Stanford Law School.
Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution.

Author, The Digital 4th Amendment:
https://www.amazon.com/Digital-Fourth-Amendment-Privacy-Policing/dp/0190627077/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0

Orin Samuel Kerr is an American legal scholar known for his studies of American criminal procedure and the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as well as computer crime law and internet surveillance. He has been a professor of law at Stanford Law School since 2025. Kerr is one of the contributors to the law-oriented blog titled The Volokh Conspiracy. .. more

Political science 35%

Law 28%

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Orin Kerr @orinkerr.bsky.social · 6d

With the Supreme Court set to hear the geofence warrant case, you may be wondering: How does the Fourth Amendment apply in the digital age? What are the choices? What's the tech? What's the big picture of the law? You can read it about in my 2025 book:
www.amazon.com/Digital-Four...

The Digital Fourth Amendment: Privacy and Policing in Our Online World

The Digital Fourth Amendment: Privacy and Policing in Our Online World [Kerr, Orin] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. The Digital Fourth Amendment: Privacy and Policing in Our Online World

Orin Kerr @orinkerr.bsky.social · 10h

Drug detection dog jumping up and putting her paws on the car windowsill before alerting didn't trigger a Jones trespass search, CA6 rules—with super interesting concurrences from both Judge Thapar and Judge Hermandorfer on the nature of Jones searches.
opn.ca6.uscourts.gov/opinions.pdf...

Orin Kerr @orinkerr.bsky.social · 11h

I don't think stand your ground laws give you any right to use force against federal law enforcement.

Orin Kerr @orinkerr.bsky.social · 15h

It was pointed out to me that the Lucas opinion the administration is flagging is just a plurality opinion, not a majority opinion, which I totally missed before.

Revised post now up: reason.com/volokh/2026/...

Orin Kerr @orinkerr.bsky.social · 15h

Sorry! This just isn't my day. Will repost now.

Orin Kerr @orinkerr.bsky.social · 16h

Ah, thanks -- I had totally missed that. Will amend the post.

Orin Kerr @orinkerr.bsky.social · 20h

To my students, yes; probably not to the public.

Orin Kerr @orinkerr.bsky.social · 1d

I'd guess someone early-- I liked the John Rutledge guess below.

Orin Kerr @orinkerr.bsky.social · 1d

No way they have the billables.

Orin Kerr @orinkerr.bsky.social · 1d

A reader helpfully points out that General in the military sense comes from a similar shortening—from the French, Capitaine General. But I figure that meanings going back to the 1570s are great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather-clause-d in.

Orin Kerr @orinkerr.bsky.social · 1d

Man is shot and killed, and police come to the scene and find a phone on the ground nearby. Phone is searched w/o a warrant. Ga SCT: Search was okay, as the phone was abandoned, so no IAC from counsel not moving to suppress its fruits. storage.courtlistener.com/pdf/2026/01/...

Orin Kerr @orinkerr.bsky.social · 1d

Fair.

Orin Kerr @orinkerr.bsky.social · 1d

(or at least it makes as much sense as calling a lawyer "General")

Orin Kerr @orinkerr.bsky.social · 1d

It would make a lot of sense, too. You would start out as a junior associate, and if you stay for enough time eventually you would become a senior associate.

Orin Kerr @orinkerr.bsky.social · 1d

If the confusion is good one-way, it's even better two ways. (Transcript below modified by me, to be clear.)

Orin Kerr @orinkerr.bsky.social · 1d

If the Solicitor General is to be called General—when really Solicitors General are Solicitors, not Generals— I think it only appropriate that we henceforth refer to any Associate Justice as Associate.

Orin Kerr @orinkerr.bsky.social · 1d

Yes, but under NY v. Harris I think you can't suppress the person— you'd at most be able to suppress evidence found or statements made inside the home.

Orin Kerr @orinkerr.bsky.social · 1d

Seriously!

Orin Kerr @orinkerr.bsky.social · 1d

You go into legal analysis with the law you have, not the law you want.

Orin Kerr @orinkerr.bsky.social · 1d

That’s the Payton standard.

Orin Kerr @orinkerr.bsky.social · 2d

I wrote up a long analysis of the issue here, for those interested:
reason.com/volokh/2026/...

Can ICE Enter a Home To Make an Arrest With Only an Administrative Warrant?

The Associated Press reports: Immigration officers assert sweeping power to enter homes without a judge's warrant, memo says WASHINGTON (AP)…

Reposted by Mark D. White, Stephen Pimpare, Élisabeth Vallet

Orin Kerr @orinkerr.bsky.social · 2d

"Can ICE Enter a Home To Make an Arrest With Only an Administrative Warrant?" a deep dive for the law nerds new from me, posted over at Volokh.
reason.com/volokh/2026/...

Can ICE Enter a Home To Make an Arrest With Only an Administrative Warrant?

The Associated Press reports: Immigration officers assert sweeping power to enter homes without a judge's warrant, memo says WASHINGTON (AP)…

Orin Kerr @orinkerr.bsky.social · 2d

Most arrest warrants are not signed by Article III judges, as most are state, not federal. But I wonder if they're relying on Shadwick v. City of Tampa, 407 U.S. 345 (1972).

Orin Kerr @orinkerr.bsky.social · 2d

I've been listening to it, but it's so slow; it would be a lot better if it were told more briefly, I think.

Orin Kerr @orinkerr.bsky.social · 2d

What we call "Kavanaugh stops" were formally adopted by the Supreme Court 51 years ago in an opinion joined by Thurgood Marshall and William Brennan, so I'm not sure that the timeline works.

Orin Kerr @orinkerr.bsky.social · 2d

From the context, I would guess they argue that an administrative warrant counts as an arrest warrant for purposes of Payton v. New York.

Orin Kerr @orinkerr.bsky.social · 2d

Sorry, I deleted and reposted: The whistleblower memo has an attachment of a DHS memo that refers to the Office of General Counsel's conclusion, but it provides no argument in support of that conclusion.

Reposted by Elizabeth Saunders, Mark A. Lemley, Brendan Nyhan , and 4 more Elizabeth Saunders, Mark A. Lemley, Brendan Nyhan, Rosemary A. Joyce, Daniel W. Drezner, Robert C. Richards, Jacob T. Levy

Orin Kerr @orinkerr.bsky.social · 2d

This DHS memorandum says that the DHS General Counsel's office has adopted a new position that the Fourth Amendment allows entry into the home to make an arrest just based on an administrative warrant.

I would like to see that argument.

documentcloud.org/documents/26...

Orin Kerr @orinkerr.bsky.social · 3d

Very interesting forthcoming article on state constitutional equivalents to the 4th Amendment, and how state courts do and don't interpret them, from Quinn Yeargain.
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.... #N

Orin Kerr @orinkerr.bsky.social · 3d

Here's another question from my Fall 2025 Criminal Procedure exam. This was the one question that was not an issue-spotter.

You have 45 minutes.

BEGIN.

Orin Kerr @orinkerr.bsky.social · 3d

This 4th Circuit case from 2019—and more importantly, the Supreme Court caselaw that led to it and the other cases like it—explains at least part of what we're seeing today with respect to ICE enforcement. The question is always, what's the remedy?
scholar.google.com/scholar_case...