Not because of the actual holding of the case, which involves whether the government can introduce a particular prior criminal conviction for smuggling undocumented aliens in order to help prove that he knew that the current aliens that he was (allegedly) smuggling were indeed undocumented. That's an issue that's important, of course, but that's not especially practically significant to most readers.
Rather, what struck me as surprising -- and troubling -- was a random, seemingly innocuous comment in the "background" section of today's Ninth Circuit opinion. Here's the first paragraph of that section:
"On June 10, 2023, Border Patrol Agents Ordoñez-Nuñez and Guzman were driving in separate unmarked vehicles along State Route (SR) 94 around Campo, California, less than two miles from the United States-Mexico border. The agents noticed an older, white Honda Civic driving ten miles below the speed limit and weaving “in and out of lanes” along the highway. Agent Ordoñez-Nuñez grew suspicious of the vehicle because the driver and passenger kept looking at him through the window and side mirror, and the car was “sitting very low on the rear axle” as if it carried extra weight in the back seat or trunk. After following the Civic for 15– 20 minutes, Agent Ordoñez-Nuñez ran a records check on it—the search included the vehicle’s travel patterns, whether it had gone through any immigration checkpoints, and where it was registered. He learned the car was registered in La Mesa, over fifty miles away, and had no history of traveling in the area or through any checkpoints. Based on these results, the agent 'requested for a marked Border Patrol unit to initiate a vehicle stop.'"
I live in San Diego, which is fairly close to Campo. Here's the part that surprised me:
" Agent Ordoñez-Nuñez ran a records check on it—the search included the vehicle’s travel patterns . . . . He learned the car . . . had no history of traveling in the area . . . ."
I knew, of course, that there are license plate readers pretty much everywhere these days. But what I did not know -- until today -- is that the police can access your travel records pretty much instantly, while in their vehicle and just by running your plates. I had thought -- wrongly -- that it at least took more effort than that. Something like an actual criminal investigation, or something like that.
Apparently not.
