WSJ.com – High Court Says No to Wiretapping, Yes to Exclusionary Rule:
Yesterday, the Supreme Court granted cert in a case that, commentators say, gives them an opporunity to carve out more exceptions to the “exclusionary rule,” a criminal procedure doctrine that excludes evidence obtained from an unlawful search. At the same time, the Court, without comment, turned down an appeal from the ACLU that challenged the Bush administration’s warrantless-wiretapping program.
A federal judge has dismissed Jewel v. NSA, a case from the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) on behalf of AT&T customers challenging the National Security Agency's mass surveillance of millions of ordinary Americans' phone calls and emails.
The "mere evidence" rule, forbidding searches for documents that were themselves not “instrumentalities” crimes (or contraband themselves) lasted well into the twentieth century before being abandoned. So why were telegrams never explicitly covered by the rule?
While the use of secret evidence may be acceptable initially (as part of an investigation or short-term detention while more evidence is gathered), the defense needs access to this evidence. Without it, any trial or legal process is simply unfair.
EFF's warrantless wiretapping case dismissed
I'm currently a graduate student of the history of law and technology at the University of California, San Diego. I also provide law and technology consulting services.
Additionally, I'm a non-practicing lawyer and former developer/sysadmin at a biotech non-profit. For more about me and my work, see krisnelson.org or my Google Profile. Post title: High Court Says No to Wiretapping, Yes to Exclusionary Rule
Authored by: Kristopher Nelson
Date posted: Feb 20, 2008
Categorized as: constitution • law • news • privacy • search and seizure • wiretap
Tagged with: evidence • law • wiretap
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