Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/20pdf/19-783_k53l.pdf
Page Number: 7

Cite as:  593 U. S. ____ (2021) 

3 

Opinion of the Court 

money damages and equitable relief.  §1030(g). 

B 
This  case  stems  from  Van  Buren’s  time  as  a  police  ser-
geant  in  Georgia.  In  the  course  of  his  duties,  Van  Buren 
crossed paths with a man named Andrew Albo.  The deputy
chief of Van Buren’s department considered Albo to be “very
volatile” and warned officers in the department to deal with
him carefully.  Notwithstanding that warning, Van Buren 
developed a friendly relationship with Albo.  Or so Van Bu-
ren thought when he went to Albo to ask for a personal loan. 
Unbeknownst to Van Buren, Albo secretly recorded that re-
quest and took it to the local sheriff ’s office, where he com-
plained that Van Buren had sought to “shake him down” for 
cash. 

The taped conversation made its way to the Federal Bu-
reau of Investigation (FBI), which devised an operation to 
see how far Van Buren would go for money.  The steps were 
straightforward: Albo would ask Van Buren to search the 
state law enforcement computer database for a license plate
purportedly belonging to a woman whom Albo had met at a
local strip club.  Albo, no stranger to legal troubles, would
tell Van Buren that he wanted to ensure that the woman 
was  not  in  fact  an  undercover  officer.    In  return  for  the 
search, Albo would pay Van Buren around $5,000.

Things  went  according  to  plan.    Van  Buren  used  his 
patrol-car computer to access the law enforcement database 
with his valid credentials.  He searched the database for the 
license plate that Albo had provided.  After obtaining the 
FBI-created license-plate entry, Van Buren told Albo that 
he had information to share. 

The Federal Government then charged Van Buren with a
felony violation of the CFAA on the ground that running the