Privacy Law

Judge tosses suit claiming San Francisco’s open-air pissoir violates privacy rights

A superior court judge in San Francisco has tossed a lawsuit that claimed an open-air pissoir in a city park was a public nuisance that violated the right to privacy. Judge Harold Kahn dismissed the case in a Sept. 30 order (PDF) that found the pissoir in Mission Dolores Park…

Oct 11, 2016 8:00 AM CDT

Federal judge questions how redacted document got unredacted; CourtListener says there is no mystery

A federal judge in Washington, D.C., has asked lawyers to investigate and report back to him on how a redacted detail in a lawsuit was published on CourtListener.com. U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss ordered the probe after the website published a court order in a suit against the Consumer Financial…

Oct 7, 2016 8:00 AM CDT

Secret warrant from intelligence court reportedly authorized Yahoo email scans

A secret warrant reportedly issued by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court last year authorized Yahoo scans of emails for specific information requested by the U.S. government, according to two anonymous government officials. The warrant was issued under the authority of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, two unnamed…

Oct 6, 2016 9:47 AM CDT

‘Internet of things’ panel has a thing about security

Panelists for the CLE discussion had a lot of warnings about security and liability.

Oct 1, 2016 1:10 AM CDT

How often do cops access databases for wrong purpose? It happened hundreds of times in two years

Police officers accessed confidential databases for improper purposes hundreds of times over a two-year period, according to an Associated Press investigation. No agency keeps track of such abuses, the Associated Press reports. The wire service sought to gather the information through public records requests to state agencies and police departments…

Sep 29, 2016 7:00 AM CDT

‘Parking while black’ at issue in pending 7th Circuit appeal

A case pending in the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals could give the green light to police who want to use parking infractions as a justification for car searches. The case pending before the en banc court could legitimize cases of so-called “parking while black,” according to a…

Sep 26, 2016 7:45 AM CDT

Police in Florida and other states are building up private DNA databases

The five teenage boys were sitting in a parked car in a gated community in Melbourne, Florida, when a police officer pulled up behind them. Officer Justin Valutsky closed one of the rear doors, which had been ajar, and told them to stay in the car. He peered into the…

Sep 14, 2016 11:30 AM CDT

Government hacking in child porn case was a search, but evidence won’t be suppressed, says judge

Federal trial courts differ on whether the FBI placing malware on private computers amounts to a search, and although a Texas judge recently found that it did, he denied the defendant’s evidence suppression motion on the basis that it wasn’t proven the government willfully violated the law. The case involved…

Sep 12, 2016 3:00 PM CDT

Former Justice Department lawyer is censured for telling journalist about wiretap program

A former Justice Department lawyer has been censured for telling a New York Times reporter about the National Security Agency’s warrantless wiretap program. The lawyer, Thomas Tamm, was censured (PDF) on Thursday, report the National Law Journal (sub. req.) and the Legal Profession Blog. Tamm had agreed to accept the…

Aug 26, 2016 3:07 PM CDT

Lawyer denounces restaurant patrons for message they left his granddaughter

A Virginia lawyer used Facebook to denounce two restaurant patrons who left no tip for their waitress and explained why on the credit card receipt. In the line reserved for the tip amount, the couple wrote, “We only tip citizens.” The 18-year-old waitress was a citizen and the granddaughter of…

Aug 23, 2016 8:00 AM CDT

Hillary Clinton must answer interrogatories in email suit; nearly 15,000 documents uncovered?

Hillary Clinton will have to answer written questions about her use of a private server for State Department emails in a public records lawsuit brought by Judicial Watch. U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan ruled (PDF) on Friday that Judicial Watch may serve written interrogatories on Clinton, but the group is…

Aug 22, 2016 9:49 AM CDT

6th Circuit allows suit claiming WebWatcher software violates wiretap law, invades privacy

A federal appeals court is allowing a lawsuit that claims the maker of WebWatcher spyware violates federal and Ohio wiretap laws, as well as a common law right to privacy The Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a judge’s dismissal of the suit in a 2-1 decision (PDF)…

Aug 19, 2016 8:00 AM CDT

Randy Travis DWI arrest video should be released, appeals court says

A redacted dashcam video showing the drunken-driving arrest of country singer Randy Travis must be released under the Texas Public Information Act, a Texas appeals court ruled (PDF) on Thursday. The Texas 3rd Court of Appeals said the August 2012 video isn’t exempted from disclosure, the Austin American-Statesman reports. The…

Aug 18, 2016 4:25 PM CDT

Prosecutors obtained video recordings of lawyer-inmate meetings at private-run federal prison

Prosecutors obtained video recordings of lawyers meeting with their prisoner clients that were made by the Corrections Corporation of America and turned over in response to a grand jury subpoena, testimony revealed at a hearing before a federal judge last week. U.S. District Judge Julie Robinson ordered (PDF) prosecutors to…

Aug 15, 2016 3:48 PM CDT

3rd Circuit refuses to reseal damaging Cosby deposition, but questions ‘public moralist’ rationale

A federal appeals court on Monday refused to reseal documents revealing damaging admissions by Bill Cosby in a 2005 deposition. The Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals refused to reseal the documents because their widespread release made the appeal moot, the Hollywood Reporter reports. The records had been filed…

Aug 15, 2016 2:23 PM CDT