Archive for the ‘Fourth Amendment’ Category
Government Seeks Twitter Info of Occupy Wall Street Protester
Hanni Fakhoury of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has written an excellent account of the story of Malcolm Harris, an Occupy Wall Street (OWS) protester who was arrested for alleged disorderly conduct on October 1, 2011 on the Brooklyn Bridge — and whose Twitter account information is being sought by the government. As Fakhoury reports, [...]
SCOTUS: GPS Tracking Requires Warrant
Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) held that law enforcement officials cannot attach GPS tracking devices to individuals’ vehicles without a warrant. In United States v. Jones, the Court was faced with whether Antoine Jones’ conviction for drug trafficking should be upheld where law enforcement officials obtained a warrant to attach a GPS device [...]
Twitter Must Turn Over Data in WikiLeaks Case
A federal court judge has ruled that the private Twitter information of three WikiLeaks associates must be handed over to a grand jury investigating the case; the 60-page memorandum opinion (PDF) penned by Judge Liam O’Grady upheld a previous decision by a Magistrate Judge Theresa Carroll Buchanan. Birgitta Jonsdottir, a member of Iceland’s parliament, and [...]
Does Flushing Your Toilet After a Police Knock Mean They Can Search Your House Without a Warrant?
During oral arguments about a case involving the constitutionality of a warrantless search, some United States Supreme Court justices hinted that they might be inclined to OK a warrantless search based on the police’s contention that they felt evidence was being destroyed inside a home. The case is Kentucky v. King in which the justices [...]
Privacy Advocates Sue Department of Homeland Security Over Full-Body Scanners
The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) has sued the Department of Homeland Security over full-body scanners currently being used in some United States airports. The scans are done by machines that use x-ray or radio frequency and produce somewhat blurred images of a person’s naked body; they are used to find hidden contraband, although some [...]
Obama Considers Lawsuit Against Arizona Immigration Law
In addition to the “Birther Bill” making its way through the Arizona legislative process, the state has been in the news recently for an immigration law that requires police to stop and ask for documentation from anyone they have “reasonable suspicion” to believe is an illegal immigrant. Previously, the law prohibited officers from asking for [...]
