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Great. First Stingrays, now we also have Jugulars and Wolfhounds.
Stingrays are $100,000 devices that simulate cell phone towers and are used by law enforcement to capture a suspect's cell phone traffic. The problem is, it also captures EVERYONE ELSE'S TRAFFIC. There has been tremendous controversy about 4th Amendment rights because it's such a blanket capture of traffic. Many criminal cases have been dropped ( Read more... ) -
Dealing with the police: assert your constitutional rights
This guy is a cop of over 30 years experience and he freely admits that police are allowed to lie in the performance of their duties. He served as a consultant on a film called Ten Rules For Dealing With The Police. Here's the ten rules ( Read more... ) -
Supreme Court to hear two cases on warentless searches of phones of arrestees
This is interesting. One case involve an appeal from a man convicted of involvement of a gang shooting. He was pulled over for expired tags on his car, and a field search of his phone found pix of him posing in front of a car used in a shooting. The other is the case of a convicted drug dealer whose phone tied him to his house, where drugs were ( Read more... ) -
Fort Worth drivers stopped by police for a drug/alcohol study
Two police cars barricaded a street, forcing drivers in to a small parking lot where contractors hired by the federal government asked them if they'd provide a saliva swab or blood sample or breathalyzer test. They'd be compensated $50 for blood, $10 for saliva, and nothing for the breathalyzer. The lovely consent form stated that their breath ( Read more... ) -
NSA domestic spying is legally predicated on a 1974 purse snatch?!
Interesting story. Guy steals woman's purse, then begins stalking her. She recognizes his car in the neighborhood, tells a cop, they get a district attorney to issue a subpoena to the phone company for a pen recording on the guy's phone line. Snatcher is arrested, sentenced to a decade in prison. Appeals ultimately to the Supreme Court that the ( Read more... ) -
In other legal YAY news, judge finds National Security letters unconstitutional and bans them!
NSL's are investigative tools used by the FBI to "fight terrorism". They go to an internet service provider, or a bank, or a library, and slap down the letter requesting information about a customer/client. The letter not only requires information, but is also a gag order on discussing it ( Read more... ) -
SCOTUS rules that a warrant is required for GPS surveillance!
"In all, five justices said physically attaching the GPS device to the underside of a car amounted to a search requiring a warrant. Four justices, however, said the prolonged GPS surveillance in this case - a month - amounted to a search requiring a warrant, but was silent on whether GPS monitoring for shorter periods would require a warrant. All ( Read more... ) -
SCOTUS to hear case on drug-sniffing dog and warrant requirements
Case in Florida where a drug-sniffing dog, outside of someone's house, alerted, so the cops got a warrant and raided the house, finding drugs ( Read more... ) -
SCOTUS on GPS tracking: "Sounds like 1984".
There's no telling how they will rule. There is an irregularity in the case of the guy who brought the suit: the cops had 10 days in which to install the tracker, they installed it on the 11th day. So it's possible the court could rule on this 10 day issue and punt on GPS tracking in general.
But I'm glad to see that they are disturbed. surveillance, 4th amendmentMore Fed GPS tracking joy! Man finds TWO trackers on his SUV.
He bought it from the brother of his girlfriend, said brother later fled to Mexico and may be involved in the drug trade. The guy lives with the parents of his girlfriend. He thinks the Feds may think that since they guy he bought the SUV from might be a drug dealer, that he might be. Classic guilt by association ( Read more... )