Supreme Court Sides With Former Officer Who Improperly Searched License Plate Database

Seated from left: Associate Justice Samuel Alito, Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice John Roberts, Associate Justice Stephen Breyer, and Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor, standing from left: Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh, Associate Justice Elena Kagan, Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch, and Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett pose during a group photo of the Justices at the Supreme Court in Washington on April 23, 2021. Erin Schaff/Pool/AFP via Getty Images

The U.S. Supreme Court on June 3 sided with a police officer who accessed a license plate database via “improper purpose” and ruled that he can’t be charged under federal law.

In a 6–3 majority opinion written by Justice Amy Coney Barrett, the nation’s highest court held that Georgia officer Nathan Van Buren didn’t violate U.S. cybercrime law when he searched a license plate database for non-law-enforcement reasons. Van Buren had appealed a conviction under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act after a lower court upheld a jury verdict against him.