Obama Wants Computer Privacy Ruling Overturned
The Obama administration is seeking to reverse a federal appeals court decision that dramatically narrowed the government’s search-and-seizure powers in the digital age.
Solicitor General Elena Kagan and Justice Department officials are asking the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to reconsider its August ruling that federal prosecutors went too far when seizing 104 professional baseball players’ drug results when they had a warrant for just 10.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ 9-2 decision offered Miranda-style guidelines to prosecutors and judges on how to protect Fourth Amendment privacy rights while conducting computer searches.
Kagan, a President Barack Obama appointee, and several U.S. attorneys told the San Francisco-based court Monday that the decision is complicating federal prosecutions in the West. The circuit, the nation’s largest, covers nine states, including Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon and Washington State.