Currently viewing the tag: "Fourth Amendment"

Circuit Split on Warrantless Electronic Device Searches at the U.S. Border

On September 16, 2018 By

Several federal circuits are tackling the issue whether the Government’s authority to search persons and property at the border, without a warrant, and often, without any suspicion, includes individuals’ electronic devices. The Fourth and Ninth Circuits have held that the Fourth Amendment requires at least reasonable suspicion for forensic searches of electronic devices […]

Continue Reading →

Aerial Surveillance and the Fourth Amendment

On March 24, 2018 By

Baltimore, Maryland is no stranger to pervasive police surveillance. Through CitiWatch, the police monitor over 700 surveillance cameras mounted on street corners throughout the city in real-time. An operator, often a former police officer, scans a screen displaying numerous cameras, watching for what he perceives to be indicia of criminal activity. Then, he selects […]

Continue Reading →

Shoes, Laptop, and Text Messages in the Luggage Bin: ACLU Challenges Cell Phone Searches at the Border

On October 13, 2017 By

Anyone who has travelled by airplane over the last decade knows one thing to be true: security can be a drag. But you may not know that customs agents may search more than just your luggage at the border. In the wake of 9/11, the Department of Homeland Security implemented a policy which allowed it […]

Continue Reading →

Cell Phones, Privacy and the Unclear Scope of the Fourth Amendment

On March 20, 2015 By

Cell phones have become an unquestionably ubiquitous part of everyday life for a large majority of Americans. Many take their phones with them everywhere and use them for numerous functions throughout the course of their day. Consequently people often inadvertently or purposefully store a host of personal information on such devices. The Supreme Court […]

Continue Reading →

Bad Boys, Whatcha Gonna Do When the Police Cam Catches You?

On January 30, 2015 By

With more and more police departments purchasing body cameras and adopting policies that officers wear these cameras at all times when on duty, one is left wondering what will the effects on the criminal justice system be?

Departments that have implemented the use of body cameras have achieved staggering results.  The police department in […]

Continue Reading →

Riley Decision “Brings the Fourth Amendment into the 21st Century”

On July 1, 2014 By

The United States Supreme Court recently decided Riley v. California. Two separate Amici Curiae briefs petitioning for Writ of Certiorari  (available here and here) cited a note published by the Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment and Technology, continuing the journal’s impressive rise to the […]

Continue Reading →

“Can You Hear Me Now?”: Cellphone Tracking and the Fourth Amendment

On June 20, 2014 By

The Eleventh Circuit handed down a groundbreaking decision this past week, holding in United States v. Davis that the Fourth Amendment protects information about a person’s cell site data.

Cell site data reveals a cellphone’s physical address at call origination, duration, and termination. In Davis, that information was provided […]

Continue Reading →

BREAKING: Sen. Feinstein Accuses CIA of Spying on Senate Computers

On March 11, 2014 By

The simmering surveillance debate just hit a flash point.

On Tuesday morning, Senator Dianne Feinsten, Chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, accused the CIA of spying on Senate computers used by committee staff investigating CIA interrogation techniques. The search was supposedly focused on whether the Intelligence Committee had obtained a particular CIA report on interrogation procedures. Senator Feinstein called […]

Continue Reading →

Courts Split on the Constitutionality of NSA Surveillance Programs — Rand Paul Wants to Settle the Issue in the US Supreme Court

On February 12, 2014 By

Do you have a telephone? Want to join a class action against the NSA? Rand Paul plans to file a class action lawsuit against the National Security Agency (NSA), and he’s looking for people to join in the suit. He claims that the NSA’s practice of collecting phone records for 100 million people under […]

Continue Reading →

Monday Morning JETLawg

On January 13, 2014 By

Welcome to another semester at the JETLaw blog! Our patent eligibility symposium is coming up on Jan. 24, and we are soliciting questions for the panel moderators to consider.

The Supreme Court grants cert in the Aereo case, which pits the over-the-air TV streaming upstart against the big broadcasting […]

Continue Reading →