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Stockton mayor forced to relinquish electronics and passwords to agents at SFO

19 points by chriskanan 11y ago

scintill76 11y ago
> Unfortunately, they were not willing or able to produce a search warrant or any court documents suggesting they had a legal right to take my property. In addition, they were persistent about requiring my passwords for all devices. [linked article] > “Our priority is assuring the integrity of the investigative process and generally speaking we don't acknowledge that an investigation is underway ... unless or until charges are filed, arrests are made, or documents are publicly filed with the court that confirm a probe is taking place.”[1] Wat? They can take your stuff without a court order, not even from a secret court, and if they don't make any arrests or charges, they're not even required to confirm or be accountable for what happened? I really hope this is a case of a handful of idiots doing something unsanctioned that will be fully and transparently corrected. If this is upheld as fully legal, how is this not a mockery of basic rights? I'd expect this from a totalitarian state; what does that say about the USA? I can understand why DHS would feel national security is served by being able to seize or detain without any justification before or afterward. It's awfully convenient to forget about all that red tape. I don't understand how the judiciary would uphold such a tradeoff of basic rights. (A comment[2] suggests they won't.) They better at least require a secret court to sign off if this were to be 100% legal... it's sad that anyone accepts that, but it's better than absolutely zero oversight. A mayor, of all people! It's sad to think of all the less-powerful people who've already had this happen, but at least a mayor should be able to get some kind of resolution. [1] http://m.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Stockton-mayor-was-briefly-detained-on-return-6546419.php http://m.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Stockton-mayor-was-brief... [2] http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/10/small-town-mayor-relinquishes-electronics-and-passwords-to-agents-at-sfo/?comments=1&post=29873637 http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/10/small-town-mayor-...

19 points by chriskanan 11y ago

> Unfortunately, they were not willing or able to produce a search warrant or any court documents suggesting they had a legal right to take my property. In addition, they were persistent about requiring my passwords for all devices. [linked article] > “Our priority is assuring the integrity of the investigative process and generally speaking we don't acknowledge that an investigation is underway ... unless or until charges are filed, arrests are made, or documents are publicly filed with the court that confirm a probe is taking place.”[1] Wat? They can take your stuff without a court order, not even from a secret court, and if they don't make any arrests or charges, they're not even required to confirm or be accountable for what happened? I really hope this is a case of a handful of idiots doing something unsanctioned that will be fully and transparently corrected. If this is upheld as fully legal, how is this not a mockery of basic rights? I'd expect this from a totalitarian state; what does that say about the USA? I can understand why DHS would feel national security is served by being able to seize or detain without any justification before or afterward. It's awfully convenient to forget about all that red tape. I don't understand how the judiciary would uphold such a tradeoff of basic rights. (A comment[2] suggests they won't.) They better at least require a secret court to sign off if this were to be 100% legal... it's sad that anyone accepts that, but it's better than absolutely zero oversight. A mayor, of all people! It's sad to think of all the less-powerful people who've already had this happen, but at least a mayor should be able to get some kind of resolution. [1] http://m.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Stockton-mayor-was-briefly-detained-on-return-6546419.php http://m.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Stockton-mayor-was-brief... [2] http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/10/small-town-mayor-relinquishes-electronics-and-passwords-to-agents-at-sfo/?comments=1&post=29873637 http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/10/small-town-mayor-...