Brief filed: 08/14/2020
Documents
Alasaad v. Wolf
1st Circuit Court of Appeals; Case No. 20-1077 & 20-1081
Prior Decision
Decision below 419 F.Supp.3d 142 (D. Mass. Nov. 12, 2019)
Argument(s)
The government's practice of warrantlessly searching travelers' electronic devices at the border violates the Fourth and Sixth Amendments. For many criminal defense lawyers, their work compels them to cross the border with their devices, which they use as their virtual law office. The attorney-client privilege and the Constitution protect the information on those devices. Requiring the government to get a warrant for device searches at the border would trigger the judicial supervision that is necessary to protect that information and associated rights.
Author(s)
Michael J. Iacopino, NACDL, Manchester, NH; Michael Price, Mukund Rathi, NACDL, Washington, DC.
