Legal Commentary

United States v. Payton Update

By Orin Kerr

Two weeks ago, I wrote a post seeking updates on United States v. Payton, a Ninth Circuit computer search and seizure decision that I think was wrongly decided. Howard Bashman notes that on Friday the Ninth Circuit handed own this seven-page order explaining what happened. It seems that there was interest in rehearing the case en banc from at least one member of the Ninth Circuit, but that mootness may have gotten in the way because the government concluded there were bigger fish to fry in the CA9 and did not seek rehearing. The court also concluded that it should not vacate its decision in light of the mootness, which I think was procedurally correct even though I think the decision itself was wrong. So the bottom line is that Payton stays on the books.

Full post as published by The Volokh Conspiracy on January 18, 2010 (boomark / email).