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E.D. Mich.: Extended border search without RS after defendant was cleared through where his computer was seized and shipped elsewhere for analysis was unreasonable

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Defendant was on a CBP watch list as a suspected child pornographer. When he arrived at DFW from an overseas trip that had no suspicion of being related to child pornography, he was first let through then detained after clearance and his laptop was seized. His computer was shipped to Detroit for analysis, and the District Court finds that this violated United States v. Place. United States v. Laich, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4931 (E.D. Mich. January 20, 2010): Even if the Court deemed this detention to be a valid exercise of the Government's police powers, there was no legal basis to support the permanent seizure of Laich's laptop computer. When the CBP officers directed Laich to return to the inspection area, they did not conduct an additional search of his laptop...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on January 27, 2010 (boomark / email).