Court Rules for Expectation of Privacy in E-mail
Attorney Blogs
[##_1L|1066659014.jpg|width="130" height="98" alt=""|_##]The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Monday that the government must have a search warrant before it can secretly seize and search stored e-mails. People that use e-mail as a form of communication have a reasonable expectation of privacy. Although surveillance of in-transit e-mails is prohibited, the government has been using the Stored Communications Act (SCA) to search stored e-mails without having to use a warrant. This week the appeals court found that the act violated the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution.
"It goes without saying that like the telephone earlier in our history, e-mail is an ever-increasing mode of private communication, and protecting shared communications through this medium is as important to Fourth Amendment principles today as protecting telephone conversations has been in past," the appeals court said.
Steven Warshak, owner and president of Berkeley Premium Nutraceuticals, brought the case against the government to stop investigators from searching his stored e-mails using the SCA. The district court ruled in favor of Warshak, and the government appealed the ruling to the 6th Circuit, where they were ultimately defeated.
Warshak is in the middle of a fraud investigation. He has pleaded not guilty to charges that he and his business defrauded customers and banks out of at least $100 million in a scheme where they billed credit cards without authorization.
Related listings
-
The Supreme Court vs. Health Care Workers
Attorney Blogs 06/15/2007[##_1L|1175929016.jpg|width="101" height="102" alt=""|_##]The Supreme Court just ruled 9-0 this week that home health care workers aren't entitled to overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, a significant blow to low wage workers gene...
-
Immigration reform falls to polarized politics
Attorney Blogs 06/08/2007[##_1L|1288482258.jpg|width="180" height="135" alt=""|_##]"The reality is most people are just desperate to see a solution. If this goes down, the opposition is not offering an alternative and that means the problem is still an issue," said Pete Brod...
-
How prepared is your injury lawyer?
Attorney Blogs 05/28/2007[##_1L|1189419024.jpg|width="101" height="102" alt=""|_##]As a Virginia (VA) attorney handling injury cases like automobile accidents for about 18 years, I have come to recognize preparation as the key to success in handling serious injury cases in H...
New York Commercial Litigation Law Firm - Woods Lonergan PLLC
Founded in 1993 by Managing Partner James F. Woods, Woods Lonergan PLLC has built a strong reputation as a resourceful and industrious firm that provides clients with clear, concise, and straightforward answers to their most challenging legal issues. Partner Lawrence R. Lonergan, who joined the firm in 2008, has been a friend and colleague to Mr. Woods for over 40 years and shares the same business philosophy. Woods Lonergan PLLC’s collective experience and expertise enables the firm to expeditiously and effectively analyze the increasing challenges clients face in an evolving business and legal world, in many instances, avoiding unnecessary time and expense to our clients. Our mission is simple: provide cutting-edge expertise and sound advice in select areas of the law for corporate and business clients. We thrive on providing each client with personalized attention, forceful representation, and a collaborative team effort that embraces collective knowledge.