6 ms·

Wait no expectations of law respecting a lock because robbers can break the lock? Obviously, this will be struck down.. But it does raise the question what do

Wait no expectations of law respecting a lock because robbers can break the lock? Obviously, this will be struck down.. But it does raise the question what do we do when a judge refuses to understand basic law concepts? Can we than fire the judge?

0xfeba 10y ago
So I can take photos in public because there's no expectation of privacy. Does this mean I can hack into whatever computer I want now for the same reason? Or does a lack of privacy not necessarily mean it's legal to do such things?
- dangerlibrary 10y ago
  The ruling is about whether one has a 4th amendment right to privacy with regard to criminal investigations. You'd still be violating, at a minimum, the CFAA if you broke into someone else's private computer. There are exemptions in the CFAA for exactly this kind of investigatory activity. But the ruling won't hold, because it is dumb and bad.
  - tamana 10y ago
    CFAA exempts warrantless searches?
    - cmdrfred 10y ago
      Also, does this not mean that cases like Andrew Auernheimer, where he simply used an API to access data that was not protected at all will be found not guilty in the future?
dangerlibrary 10y ago
Judicial elections are ... tricky, but reasonably common. Without public financing for the elections and stronger campaign finance laws, it's really hard to avoid the problem of buying the courts. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retention_election#U.S._states_with_judicial_retention_elections https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retention_election#U.S._states...
- dctoedt 10y ago
  > Judicial elections are ... tricky, but reasonably common. It's state judges (in some states) who are elected. This was a federal district judge; they're appointed for life by the president with the advice and consent of the Senate.
  - dangerlibrary 10y ago
    You're absolutely right! My mistake.
dctoedt 10y ago
> Can we than fire the judge? This was a federal district judge, who under the U.S. Constitution (Article III) has life tenure and can't be fired; he can be removed from office only if impeached by the House of Representatives and convicted by the Senate after a trial. The chief judge of the district could cut this judge's case load to zero [0]. In this case, though, (A) that's very unlikely to happen, and (B) the judge would still stay on full salary. [0] EDIT: This sort of happened, for example, to (now-former) federal district judge Sam Kent in Galveston after he was accused of "inappropriate touching" of female court employees. See http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Criminal-cases-stripped-from-Kent-s-docket-1556195.php http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Criminal-cas... Kent later pled guilty to a felony charge of making false statements to investigators; he tried to retire from the bench so as to keep his pension, but that pissed off the House judiciary committee, which pushed through articles of impeachment, which caused Kent to resign. He served not quite three years in prison. See http://bigbendnow.com/2011/08/disgraced-former-judge-completes-felony-sentence-in-jeff-davis-county/ http://bigbendnow.com/2011/08/disgraced-former-judge-complet... and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_B._Kent https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_B._Kent
- reacweb 10y ago
  I think this judge has clearly demonstrated his incompetence in handling computer related cases and his very poor understanding of the subject. Instead of firing him, I think he should be teached. This judgement should be used as example of bad judgment.
  - michaelmior 10y ago
    > teached Did you mean taught (something) or impeached?
    - 0x6c6f6c 10y ago
      Why not both
- tamana 10y ago
  Seizing a retirement account that way is pretty low. The punishment should follow the law for the crime, not allow arbitrary witholding of earned pay.
mpnordland 10y ago
So, could this ruling be used as precedent against the DCMA?
awqrre 10y ago
should he be fired today or Monday?

0xfeba 10y ago

So I can take photos in public because there's no expectation of privacy. Does this mean I can hack into whatever computer I want now for the same reason? Or does a lack of privacy not necessarily mean it's legal to do such things?

dangerlibrary 10y ago
The ruling is about whether one has a 4th amendment right to privacy with regard to criminal investigations. You'd still be violating, at a minimum, the CFAA if you broke into someone else's private computer. There are exemptions in the CFAA for exactly this kind of investigatory activity. But the ruling won't hold, because it is dumb and bad.
- tamana 10y ago
  CFAA exempts warrantless searches?
  - cmdrfred 10y ago
    Also, does this not mean that cases like Andrew Auernheimer, where he simply used an API to access data that was not protected at all will be found not guilty in the future?

dangerlibrary 10y ago

Judicial elections are ... tricky, but reasonably common. Without public financing for the elections and stronger campaign finance laws, it's really hard to avoid the problem of buying the courts. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retention_election#U.S._states_with_judicial_retention_elections https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retention_election#U.S._states...

dctoedt 10y ago
> Judicial elections are ... tricky, but reasonably common. It's state judges (in some states) who are elected. This was a federal district judge; they're appointed for life by the president with the advice and consent of the Senate.
- dangerlibrary 10y ago
  You're absolutely right! My mistake.

dctoedt 10y ago

> Can we than fire the judge? This was a federal district judge, who under the U.S. Constitution (Article III) has life tenure and can't be fired; he can be removed from office only if impeached by the House of Representatives and convicted by the Senate after a trial. The chief judge of the district could cut this judge's case load to zero [0]. In this case, though, (A) that's very unlikely to happen, and (B) the judge would still stay on full salary. [0] EDIT: This sort of happened, for example, to (now-former) federal district judge Sam Kent in Galveston after he was accused of "inappropriate touching" of female court employees. See http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Criminal-cases-stripped-from-Kent-s-docket-1556195.php http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Criminal-cas... Kent later pled guilty to a felony charge of making false statements to investigators; he tried to retire from the bench so as to keep his pension, but that pissed off the House judiciary committee, which pushed through articles of impeachment, which caused Kent to resign. He served not quite three years in prison. See http://bigbendnow.com/2011/08/disgraced-former-judge-completes-felony-sentence-in-jeff-davis-county/ http://bigbendnow.com/2011/08/disgraced-former-judge-complet... and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_B._Kent https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_B._Kent

reacweb 10y ago
I think this judge has clearly demonstrated his incompetence in handling computer related cases and his very poor understanding of the subject. Instead of firing him, I think he should be teached. This judgement should be used as example of bad judgment.
- michaelmior 10y ago
  > teached Did you mean taught (something) or impeached?
  - 0x6c6f6c 10y ago
    Why not both
tamana 10y ago
Seizing a retirement account that way is pretty low. The punishment should follow the law for the crime, not allow arbitrary witholding of earned pay.

mpnordland 10y ago

So, could this ruling be used as precedent against the DCMA?

awqrre 10y ago

should he be fired today or Monday?