Tag: Fourth Amendment
Court to Rule on Exceptions to Warrant Requirement for GPS Tracking
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit is set to become the first federal appellate court to answer the question left open by the Supreme Court in United States v. Jones. Last year, the Court held in Jones that a Fourth Amendment “search” occurs, and a warrant is required, when a GPS tracking… Read More
Court: Data on Unsecured Network May Qualify for 4th Amendment Protection
The vast increase in the use of wireless data networks has led to new legal issues regarding network users’ right to privacy. A recent opinion issued by the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon indicates that, under some circumstances, individuals on an unsecured wireless network have a reasonable expectation of privacy entitling them… Read More
High Court: Police Tracking of Suspect Via GPS Requires Warrant
Last November, we discussed the U.S. Supreme Court’s oral argument in United States v. Jones, which posed the question of whether police need to obtain a warrant before attaching a GPS device to a suspect’s vehicle during a criminal investigation. We noted that in this case, 21st-century technology had come face to face with the… Read More
High Court Hears Argument in GPS Fourth Amendment Case
In August 2010, a unanimous panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled that if police wish to attach a GPS device to a criminal suspect’s car without a warrant, they first need to go to a judge and obtain a warrant based on probable cause. The act of attaching such… Read More
ACLU Wins FOIA Appeal on Prosecutors’ Use of Cell Phone Location Data
For some time now, the American Civil Liberties Union has been concerned about some federal prosecutors’ practice of seeking court orders to track the location of people’s cell phones without probable cause, arguing that this practice infringes on privacy rights and violates the Fourth Amendment. Last month, the ACLU claimed victory in one of several… Read More
ISPs Take Note: Court Rules E-mails Have Full 4th Amendment Protection
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit has just issued a trail-blazing opinion that is good news for anyone who has ever sent an e-mail – and that needs to be carefully read and adhered to by all Internet service providers (ISPs). We noted six months ago that ISPs have been all too… Read More
Fourth Amendment the Loser in BALCO Ruling
A recent ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit is a win for Major League Baseball players whose drug-testing records must now be returned to them after they were improperly seized in a 2002 federal steroids probe. But it’s not a win for Fourth Amendment values. In a September 13, 2010,… Read More
IFRAH Law
