Privacy Law

Justice Department says it may be able to hack San Bernardino shooter’s iPhone without Apple’s help

The Justice Department said in court papers on Monday that it may be able to hack the San Bernardino shooter’s iPhone without assistance from Apple. U.S. Magistrate Judge Sheri Pym of Riverside, California, agreed to the government’s request to cancel a hearing scheduled for Tuesday on the FBI request to…

Mar 22, 2016 7:27 AM CDT

Will $140M verdict for Hulk Hogan in sex-tape case survive appeal?

Updated: Florida jurors who awarded $115 million to Hulk Hogan on Friday in a sex-case suit against Gawker Media added $25 million in punitive damages on Monday. Gawker is planning to appeal the verdict, which includes $55 million for economic injuries and $60 million for emotional distress, report Courthouse News…

Mar 21, 2016 10:26 AM CDT

EFF’s Cindy Cohn calls for lawyer support in fight over mass surveillance

Cindy Cohn was always a compelling choice to give the keynote speech at ABA Techshow. The Electronic Frontier Foundation executive director has been involved in numerous high-profile court cases against the National Security Agency over its mass surveillance data-collection programs. Then the FBI versus Apple controversy happened, giving her keynote…

Mar 18, 2016 4:15 PM CDT

Apple formally objects in San Bernardino iPhone evidence fight

Apple filed a formal objection Tuesday to a federal court order that the company must help the FBI unlock an iPhone, the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) reports. The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California matter stems from a December 2015 mass shooting in San Bernardino. The…

Mar 2, 2016 3:05 PM CST

Apple doesn’t have to unlock iPhone in New York drug case, federal magistrate rules

The All Writs Act does not give judges power to order Apple to assist the government in opening an iPhone, a federal magistrate judge has ruled in a New York drug case. Magistrate Judge James Orenstein of Brooklyn ruled (PDF) on Monday in a case interpreting the 1789 law, report…

Mar 1, 2016 9:44 AM CST

Suit claims judge secretly bugged courthouse and recorded conversations

A suspended New Mexico judge is accused in a lawsuit of secretly bugging multiple locations in the courthouse and recording hundreds of hours of private conversations. The suit filed on Friday claims suspended Aztec Magistrate Court Judge Connie Johnston placed the devices in more than a dozen locations, including an…

Mar 1, 2016 8:20 AM CST

Rapid DNA devices provide results in less than two hours; how are they being used?

Law enforcement and immigration officials are showing interest in new microwave-sized devices that test DNA and return results in less than two hours. Some police departments are using rapid DNA results to search state databases to solve crimes, the New Republic reports in a story co-published with Al Jazeera America.…

Feb 26, 2016 6:15 AM CST

US Marshals Service used Stingray cellphone tracking devices nearly 6,000 times

The Baltimore police department is no longer the most prolific known user of Stingray technology, which can track suspects’ cellphones by impersonating cellphone towers. Baltimore police have used Stingrays 4,300 times, according to court testimony, but that’s less than the usage by the U.S. Marshals Service, USA Today reports. The…

Feb 24, 2016 11:37 AM CST

Judge orders depositions in Judicial Watch suit over Clinton emails

Decrying “a constant drip, drip, drip of declarations” regarding Hillary Clinton’s emails, a federal judge has ordered deposition testimony by Clinton aides and State Department officials. U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan ruled on Tuesday in a freedom of information suit filed by Judicial Watch, report the Washington Post, the Washington…

Feb 24, 2016 10:02 AM CST

Judge allows suit against lawyers for client’s secret video of Waffle House chairman

A Georgia judge has refused to toss a lawsuit against two lawyers accused of encouraging their client to make a secret video of a sexual encounter with Waffle House chairman Joe Rogers Jr. for a sexual harassment claim. Ruling on Wednesday, Judge Robert Leonard II of Cobb County allowed the…

Feb 19, 2016 5:45 AM CST

Apple opposes judge’s order to unlock killer’s iPhone, says FBI is misusing the All Writs Act

Apple is opposing a Los Angeles federal judge’s order requiring it to help the FBI unlock the cellphone of San Bernardino shooter Syed Rizwan Farook. Magistrate Judge Sheri Pym on Tuesday ordered (PDF) Apple to provide “reasonable technical assistance,” including disabling an auto-erase function that kicks in after 10 failed…

Feb 17, 2016 8:42 AM CST

10 weeks of video evidence from utility-pole camera didn’t require warrant, 6th Circuit says

A federal appeals court has upheld a firearms conviction based on video evidence collected without a warrant from a camera perched on top of a utility pole. The Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said that even though much of the evidence was collected without a warrant, the video…

Feb 16, 2016 5:45 AM CST

Judge wants to know why State Department missed the deadline for release of final Clinton emails

A federal judge in Washington, D.C., ordered the federal government to explain in writing why it missed a Jan. 29 deadline to release the final batch of Hillary Clinton’s emails. U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras said on Tuesday that the State Department is taking an “unreasonably long period of time”…

Feb 10, 2016 10:25 AM CST

Judge bars release of anti-abortion group’s undercover videos

A federal judge on Friday issued a preliminary injunction barring an anti-abortion group from releasing undercover videos taken at annual conferences of the National Abortion Federation. U.S. District Judge William Orrick III of San Francisco issued the injunction Friday in a lawsuit filed against the Center for Medical Progress, report…

Feb 9, 2016 8:43 AM CST

Lawyer sues Avvo, says unauthorized use of professional info violates right of publicity

Updated: A Chicago attorney has sued Avvo, contending that the company’s online lawyer directory is violating a state statute by using professional information on the site without permission. Plaintiff Moria Bernstein alleges in her lawsuit (PDF) that Avvo is violating an Illinois right of publicity law that bars use of…

Feb 8, 2016 5:30 PM CST