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Fourth Amendment Criminal Investigations

The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution protects citizens from unreasonable searches and seizures and provides that warrants may only be granted upon findings of probable cause. The Fourth... more +
The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution protects citizens from unreasonable searches and seizures and provides that warrants may only be granted upon findings of probable cause. The Fourth Amendment applies to the States via the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.  Important areas of Fourth Amendment jurisprudence flow from questions surrounding the definitions of "search" and "seizure," the applicability of the Amendment to so-called "stop and frisk" situations, the level of control that must be exerted by law enforcement before an individual is deemed "seized," and the "exclusionary rule," just to name a few.    less -
EDRM - Electronic Discovery Reference Model

[Webinar] ESI and Crimes: Catching Criminals and Protecting Rights - May 22nd, 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm ET

Electronic information in various forms is now a common feature in the investigation and prosecution of crimes. The search for and use of that information presents issues under the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendments as well...more

Wiley Rein LLP

Maryland Court of Appeals Updates the ‘Particularity’ Standard for Cell Phone Searches as U.S. Courts Develop New Doctrines for...

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On August 29, 2022, the Maryland Court of Appeals issued its opinion in Richardson v. Maryland, expanding the protection of the Fourth Amendment for subjects of criminal investigations whose cell phones are subject to a...more

Kohrman Jackson & Krantz LLP

Don’t [geo]fence Me In: Federal Court Invalidates General Warrant For All Google Users Near A Bank Robbery

On May 20, 2019, at approximately 4:52 p.m., a man walked into the Call Federal Credit Union outside Richmond, Virginia, pointed a firearm at the tellers, and threatened to kill them and their families unless he was given at...more

Rumberger | Kirk

A Seizure by Any Other Name: US Supreme Court Affirms Centuries Old Rule Regarding the Use of Force and the Seizure of Criminal...

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In a divided opinion, the United States Supreme Court recently corrected the Tenth Circuit’s divergence from centuries old law defining what constitutes a seizure by law enforcement for the purposes of Fourth Amendment...more

Freeman Law

Representing Taxpayers in Sensitive Audits: A Look at the Fundamental Challenges of an Eggshell Audit

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Sensitive audits present the tax practitioner with unique challenges.  They require the exercise of judgment and discretion, as well as an understanding of administrative procedure and even a command of constitutional and...more

Womble Bond Dickinson

U.S. Customs Opens Mass Searches of Data on Confiscated Traveler Smartphones, Computers

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I am an advocate of providing law enforcement officers the newest technology to do their jobs well. If there is a recording of an event, the police should be able to use it. If a stingray can capture cell phone...more

Sullivan & Worcester

The Fourth Amendment Downs 'Video Voyeurism' in Kraft SpaGate Case

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On Wednesday, Florida’s Fourth District Court of Appeal affirmed a lower court decision excluding video evidence that Florida prosecutors sought to use in their case against hundreds of men who allegedly patronized the...more

Jones Day

No Search Warrant Required for Records of Bitcoin Transactions, the Fifth Circuit Holds

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The Situation: While investigating a website for criminal activities, federal agents traced Bitcoin transactions and issued a subpoena to a virtual-currency exchange to identify customers of the site. Using that information,...more

Polsinelli

United States v. Gratkowski - Beware of Inanimate Objects That Violate Your Privacy

Polsinelli on

In Philip K. Dick’s novel Ubik, the sci-fi legend warned the world of the dangers of inanimate objects that could violate our privacy. In a virtual nod to Ubik and Dick, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the privacy...more

Polsinelli

Bitcoin Data Akin to Bank Records Under Fourth Amendment

Polsinelli on

Faced with the novel question of whether an individual has a Fourth Amendment privacy interest in the records of their Bitcoin transactions, the Fifth Circuit found that Bitcoin data is akin to bank records and not subject to...more

Womble Bond Dickinson

The Constitution Protects Faces in the Crowd

Womble Bond Dickinson on

Unlimited law enforcement application of facial recognition software to surveillance footage is an unreasonable search and a violation of Constitutional rights for people in a peaceful crowd. An officer should need to...more

Best Best & Krieger LLP

Law Enforcement Can’t Use an Administrative Search Warrant in Ongoing Criminal Investigation

Ninth Circuit Affirms Motion to Suppress Evidence Seized by Deputies Assisting Code Enforcement Officers - Law enforcement officers violate the Fourth Amendment when their “primary purpose” in assisting code enforcement...more

Snell & Wilmer

What Does the New Utah Electronic Data Privacy Law Do?

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Utah recently became the first state to enact a law specifically designed to protect private electronic information stored with third parties from collection by law enforcement without a valid warrant. Utah Governor Gary...more

Womble Bond Dickinson

New Utah Privacy Law Expands Warrant Requirement for Individuals’ Data Held by Electronic Communications Service Providers

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On March 27, 2019, Utah Governor Gary Herbert signed HB 57, a bill designed to increase privacy protections by requiring law enforcement to obtain a search warrant before being able to access a person’s data held by...more

Foley & Lardner LLP

Privacy - Wherefore Art Thou? - The Third Circuit Denies 4th Amendment Right

Foley & Lardner LLP on

The Third Circuit Denies 4th Amendment Right - Let’s face it – over the last 20 years or so, we have come to embrace, celebrate, and depend completely on electronic communications. What is more, we keep reaching out to...more

Fisher Phillips

Email Privacy Act Headed For U.S. Senate Consideration

Fisher Phillips on

On July 13, 2018, over 50 civil liberties groups, technology companies, and associations submitted a joint letter to Congress in support of the Email Privacy Act (EPA), which was recently included in the House-passed version...more

Foley & Lardner LLP

The CLOUD Act's Dramatic Impact on International Privacy Laws

Foley & Lardner LLP on

Just when the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR, was about to go into effect, the United States Congress created the CLOUD Act (Clarifying Overseas Use of Data). Without any public hearings,...more

Ballard Spahr LLP

Pennsylvania Supreme Court: If You Want to Search a Cell Phone, Get a Warrant!

Ballard Spahr LLP on

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court recently issued a sweeping ruling “that accessing any information from a cell phone without a warrant” violates the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution. ...more

Mintz - Privacy & Cybersecurity Viewpoints

Carpenter v. United States Privacy Case Pushes Supreme Court to Decide Fourth Amendment Protections of Cell Phone Metadata

The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in what may become one of the defining consumer privacy cases of our generation. The central question in Carpenter v. United States asks whether the government violates the Fourth...more

Proskauer - Minding Your Business

Privacy vs. Security: Will SCOTUS Leave the (Third) Party in 2018?

If the government obtains information about your past locations from your wireless provider, is that a search? If so, is it a search that requires the government to obtain a warrant? Courts have held that, because companies...more

Robinson+Cole Data Privacy + Security Insider

US Supreme Court Evaluates Privacy of Cell Phone Data

Last Thursday, the United States Supreme Court heard argument in Carpenter v. United States. At issue was whether the FBI violated the Fourth Amendment when it obtained the cellphone location records of the Timothy...more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

Drawing the Line: Supreme Court Addresses Major Privacy Rights in Cell Phone Dispute

On Wednesday, November 29, 2017, the Supreme Court heard arguments in the appeal of Timothy Carpenter, a man convicted and sentenced to 116 years for his role in a series of armed robberies. In proving his guilt, prosecutors...more

Mitchell, Williams, Selig, Gates & Woodyard,...

Supreme Court Hears Oral Argument Today in Major Case Regarding Cell Phone Location Privacy

In Carpenter v. United States, federal investigators sought cellphone location data for a set of persons suspected in a series of robberies. The Fourth Amendment prevents the government from conducting unreasonable searches...more

Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP

Federal Agent’s Misrepresentation in LG Search Warrant Affidavit Insufficient to Clear Qualified Immunity Hurdle

In Ganek v. Leibowitz, No. 16-1463 (2d Cir. Oct. 17, 2017) (Raggi, Chin, Carney), the Second Circuit reversed and remanded a district court’s determination that federal law enforcement authorities were not entitled to...more

Farella Braun + Martel LLP

The Fourth Amendment Implications of Sharing Server Space

The prosecution of Martin Shkreli, whom the BBC has called “the most hated man in America,” reveals some important lessons about the Fourth Amendment protections against search and seizure in the digital corporate context:...more

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