Study Aids
Case Briefs Overview
Casebooks
Case Briefs
U

United States v. Gratkowski

964 F.3d 3017 (2020)

From our private database of 46,600+ case briefs, written and edited by humans—never with AI.

United States v. Gratkowski

United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
964 F.3d 3017 (2020)

SC

Facts

The public information in a bitcoin blockchain included, for each bitcoin transfer, the bitcoin addresses of the payor and payee and the amount of the transfer. By analyzing the blockchain, it would be possible to identify blockchain users. Federal agents reviewed publicly available bitcoin blockchain information to identify a group of bitcoin addresses held by a child-pornography website (the website). Law enforcement subpoenaed Coinbase, a virtual-currency exchange, to identify its customers who had sent bitcoin to the website. Coinbase identified Richard Gratkowski (defendant) as one of those customers. Federal agents searched Gratkowski’s house and found child pornography. Gratkowski was charged with crimes related to child pornography. Gratkowski filed a motion to suppress the evidence found at his house, claiming that the disclosure of his bitcoin records violated his Fourth Amendment rights. The district court denied the motion. Gratkowski appealed.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Haynes, J.)

What to do next…

  1. Unlock this case brief with a free (no-commitment) trial membership of Quimbee.

    You’ll be in good company: Quimbee is one of the most widely used and trusted sites for law students, serving more than 834,000 law students since 2011. Some law schools even subscribe directly to Quimbee for all their law students.

    Unlock this case briefRead our student testimonials

  2. Learn more about Quimbee’s unique (and proven) approach to achieving great grades at law school.

    Quimbee is a company hell-bent on one thing: helping you get an “A” in every course you take in law school, so you can graduate at the top of your class and get a high-paying law job. We’re not just a study aid for law students; we’re the study aid for law students.

    Learn about our approachRead more about Quimbee

Here's why 834,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:

  • Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,600 briefs, keyed to 994 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
  • The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
  • Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
  • Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership
Here's why 834,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
  • Reliable - written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students
  • The right length and amount of information - includes the facts, issue, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents
  • Access in your class - works on your mobile and tablet
  • 46,600 briefs - keyed to 994 casebooks
  • Uniform format for every case brief
  • Written in plain English - not in legalese and not just repeating the court's language
  • Massive library of related video lessons - and practice questions
  • Top-notch customer support

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership

Casebooks

Cyberspace
Privacy Law

Key Terms