adman5000
March 9th, 2013, 21:40
From the Washington Post March 9, 2013:
A federal appeals court ruled Friday that border Patrol agents must have reasonable suspicion of criminal activity before conducting comprehensive searches of laptops or other digital devices. Civil liberties activists called the ruling a signficant victor for privacy rights. The decision by the US Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit creates for the first time a broad standard to ensure Border Patrol agents aren't able to review a traveler's most private information without sufficient cause. The case centered on Howard Cotterman, a US citizen whose laptop was seized at the Arizona-Mexio border in 2007. Federal investigators found hundreds of hidden child pornagraphy files on his computer. A grand jury indicted Cotterman for offenses related to child pornography, but a district court found the search unconstitutional and suppressed the evidence. However, the appeals court ruled that federal agents had a reasonable suspicion, based on a 15-year-old child molestation conviction against Cotterman.
A federal appeals court ruled Friday that border Patrol agents must have reasonable suspicion of criminal activity before conducting comprehensive searches of laptops or other digital devices. Civil liberties activists called the ruling a signficant victor for privacy rights. The decision by the US Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit creates for the first time a broad standard to ensure Border Patrol agents aren't able to review a traveler's most private information without sufficient cause. The case centered on Howard Cotterman, a US citizen whose laptop was seized at the Arizona-Mexio border in 2007. Federal investigators found hundreds of hidden child pornagraphy files on his computer. A grand jury indicted Cotterman for offenses related to child pornography, but a district court found the search unconstitutional and suppressed the evidence. However, the appeals court ruled that federal agents had a reasonable suspicion, based on a 15-year-old child molestation conviction against Cotterman.