Ruling May Stop Capricious Gadget Searches at US Borders
I’d love to see a good explanation of why exactly the 4th Amendment gets so terribly watered down when an American citizen returns home with a tablet or laptop computer. if there is no probable cause, or a reasonable suspicion of illegal activity, any search needs to be limited to tariff/contraband/immigration enforcement. if there is some suspicion, and the search happens I would say that any and all data unrelated to the suspicious activity be immediately deleted. I swear if I ever need my laptop across a border I will encrypt it with the best I can get. I have no patience for guilty until proven innocent. Zip. I’m a law abiding fellow, with nothing to fear from any search. A fact that changes my attitude about civil liberties and due process not one tiny little bit!
Interested in another eye opener? take a look at the 100 mile “border zone” the government (IMO) wrongly asserts.
aclu.org
But the court granted a motion to suppress the evidence. It determined that the search was unreasonable because of a lack of reasonable suspicion of ongoing or imminent criminal activity, and because the search was so invasive of Kim’s privacy.
“The Supreme Court has said in a number of opinions that 4th Amendment protections are reduced at the border, but it has been clear to also say that the 4th Amendment does not disappear at the border. The border is not a constitution-free zone,” Nathan Freed Wessler, a Staff Attorney with ACLU’s Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project, told WIRED.
The case is the third of its kind. In 2013, a 9th Circuit court concluded that laptops and other electronic storage devices may not be subject to forensic examination without a reason for suspicion In 2014, a District Court in Maryland determined that reasonable suspicion was needed to justify a forensic search of electronic data storage devices.
More: Ruling May Stop Willy-Nilly Gadget Searches at US Borders