By Mani Dabiri | Published June 2, 2016 | Posted in Federal and State Criminal Defense, Government Subpoenas and Investigations, Post-Conviction Defense and Appeals, White-Collar and Regulatory Defense | Tagged Tags: billofrights, dueprocess, fourthamendment, privacyandsurveillance, probablecause, searchwarrants, technology |
“The Fourth Amendment … Is In Retreat”
That’s how a dissenting opinion ends in a major federal case that was decided on Tuesday. This is how it begins: “A customer buys a cell phone. She turns it on and puts it in her pocket.” And with that, according to the majority’s opinion, the customer has consented to create a record of everywhere she goes, a Read More
Read MorePatient Privacy Gives Way for Good Cause
If you’re a doctor in California, here’s a healthy reminder that the Medical Board can subpoena your patients’ records for good cause, over their objection and yours. In a recent decision, the California Court of Appeal upheld an order that compelled a doctor to produce three of his patients’ records even though all three didn’t want Read More
Read MoreNew California Criminal Laws in 2016
Happy New Year! And with it, here are five important criminal laws that went into effect. Courts must report prosecutors for bad-faith Brady violations. This is Assembly Bill 1328. It amends the Penal Code to provide that a court must report a prosecutor to the State Bar who it finds, by clear and convincing evidence, has deliberately withheld exculpatory evidence in Read More
Read MoreOut of the Mouths (or Lives) of Babes
If you’re on probation, can the court require you to surrender your passwords to your electronic devices and social-media accounts, so they can be searched at any time? California has been weighing that question lately, and one month ago, the Court of Appeal issued decisions in two separate juvenile cases—one with a girl and one with a boy—that help Read More
Read MoreWe’re Not Gonna Take It, Anymore!
You may want to tell your boss to take your job and shove it, but if you’re thinking of logging on one last time to wreak some havoc or raid the company’s trade secrets then think again. Over the summer, a federal court of appeals interpreted California law in a way that makes it a crime for you to access your employer’s Read More
Read MoreDOJ Posts New Policy on Stingrays
Well, what do you know. Two weeks ago, we lamented the fact that law enforcement was using these electronic devices—commonly referred to as Stingrays, IMSI-catchers, or cell-site simulators—without search warrants and, often, in secret. Then last Thursday, the U.S. Justice Department announced that, from now on, each of its agencies must obtain search warrants to use such devices, and the warrants must be supported Read More
Read MoreAn Open Secret of Surveillance
From USA Today comes this report on law enforcement’s burgeoning use of so-called IMSI-catchers to conduct routine, mass surveillance. If you haven’t heard of these devices, here’s a good, plain-English piece on them from NPR. The IMSI part stands for International Mobile Subscriber Identity, and an IMSI-catcher tricks your cell phone (and every other cell phone in the vicinity) Read More
Read MoreThese Walls Are Thin
A federal court of appeals recently issued an interesting opinion that touched on law enforcement’s use of new radar technology that can peer through the walls of your home. Reportedly, at least fifty agencies have quietly equipped their agents with such devices, and other, similar devices boast even greater capabilities. Here’s the backstory. The defendant was on the lam. He’d been convicted of Read More
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