Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Criminal Law Blogs -> Fourth Amendment

Criminal Law

: Fourth Amendment

CFC: No cognizable claim in that court for seizure of laptop at border

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Plaintiff’s suit against the government in the Court of Federal Claims is dismissed. It could not be based on a contract or takings clause theory, and Fourth Amendment claims cannot be based in that court. Also, no Fourth Amendment claims has succeeded yet in any court. Kam-Almaz v. United States, 2011 U.S. Claims LEXIS 10 (January 7, 2011): According to an editorial in The New York Times of November 15, 2010, during an 18-month period between 2008 and 2010, some 3,000 returning Americans had their laptop computers seized and their contents examined by U.S. Customs. Moreover, as was the case with Mr. Kam Almaz, U.S. Customs agents may freely share the data from those computers — personal and business records, web-site visits, email —again without a warrant or even reasonable suspicion...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on January 16, 2011 (boomark / email).