Law Enforcement
771 Articles
The Microsoft Warrant Case: A Response to Orin Kerr
With less than a week before the Second Circuit considers the dispute between Microsoft and the government over emails stored in Ireland (an issue I have blogged about here, here,…
The Difficulty With Metaphors and the Fourth Amendment
The Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution seems straightforward on its face: At its core, it tells us that our “persons, houses, papers, and effects” are to be protected…
Armed Drones and the Influence of Big Business on Police Surveillance Technology
On Wednesday, the Daily Beast reported that the North Dakota state legislature recently passed a bill allowing law enforcement drones to carry less-than-lethal weapons. In theory,…
A Legislative Fix to Inspectors’ General Difficulties Accessing Information?
This post is the latest installment of our “Monday Reflections” feature, in which a different Just Security editor examines the big stories from the previous week or looks…
Warrantless Phone Tracking: The Fourth Amendment and Circuit Splits
Last week, a divided three-judge panel of the Fourth Circuit ruled in United States v. Graham that the government must obtain a warrant to obtain from a phone user’s historical…
Is al-Qaeda v Islamic State the Right Question?
Which terrorist group is a bigger threat to the United States, al-Qaeda or the Islamic State (IS)? It almost sounds like the sort of question you’d put to a child comparing movie…
The Role of Judges Under UK Surveillance Laws May be About to Change
For centuries, the authorization of surveillance powers under UK law has – for the most part – been in the hands of the executive rather than judges. All that may be about…
The Reasons Why Dylann Roof Wasn’t Charged With Terrorism
Last week, Dylann Roof was charged with 33 criminal acts, including hate crimes and firearm violations, for his killing spree at a historic African American church in Charleston,…
Jen Daskal’s The Un-Territoriality of Data is Honored
Yesterday, I had the pleasure of attending a luncheon honoring winners for best of the 2014-2015 Call for Papers by the Southeastern Association of Law Schools (SEALS) at its annual…
UK Supreme Court Upholds Lawfulness of Questioning in Airports
In January 2011, Mrs. Sylvie Beghal and her three children were returning from a trip to Paris, where they had been visiting her husband, a French national in custody “in relation…
The Government’s Wiretap Orders Still Don’t Add Up
Last week, I pointed out that the Administrative Office (AO) of the US Courts’ 2014 Wiretap Report numbers didn’t add up to the total number of wiretaps that AT&T, Verizon,…
The FBI’s Problem Isn’t “Going Dark.” Its Problem is Going Slowly
It should be clear to even casual observers today that the “golden age of surveillance” thesis is fundamentally correct. We live in a time when far more data and surveillance…