Flock's Gunfire Alerts Raise a New Fourth Amendment Question
Gun owners should be paying attention to how police use gunfire microphones in conjunction with license plate cameras.
Fourth Amendment
Judge Blocks Warrantless ICE Construction Site Raids After Agents in Alabama Arrested a U.S. Citizen 3 Times
Being on a construction site "does not open the floodgates to warrantless government intrusion," a federal judge ruled in a lawsuit filed by a construction worker who has been detained three times by ICE.
No Warrant, No Suspicion, No Problem: Flock and Border Cellphone Searches Excluded From 4th Amendment Rules
Cops keep carving out tech exceptions to the Fourth Amendment—and courts are giving them their blessing.
The Shaky Evidence That Flock Cameras Reduce Crime Rates
Flock has been promoting a recent study of its cameras' impacts on car theft. But the paper didn't demonstrate a causal effect.
Court Upholds Suspicionless Cellphone Searches at the Border
A federal appeals court says it's legal for federal agents to scroll through your phone and take pictures of its contents without a warrant or suspicion of criminal activity.
Strip Searches Generally Aren't Allowed as Searches Incident to Arrest, Third Circuit Holds,
thus deepening a circuit split. (Note that strip searches are generally allowed when and if the arrestee is placed in the general population of the jail.)
Appeals Court Grants Immunity to Texas Cops Who Held Handcuffed Woman Face Down in a Fire Ant Hill
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Taylor Rogers didn't show that it was clearly established that it was excessive force to be held down on a pile of fire ants while handcuffed.
Why Conservative Republicans Are Worried About License Plate Cameras
Recent comments by Greg Abbott and Ron DeSantis reflect a bipartisan backlash against warrantless surveillance.
A Federal Indictment Charges an ICE Officer With Lying About a Shooting That DHS Eagerly Defended
The habitually dishonest department uncritically accepted a story that was immediately contradicted by video footage and physical evidence.
This U.S. Citizen Is Suing ICE for Arresting Him 3 Times. His Lawsuit Is Moving Forward.
Despite carrying a REAL ID, Leo Garcia Venegas has been repeatedly detained by immigration agents. Now he’s suing to block immigration raids targeting Latinos on private construction sites.
A New Bill Reflects the Bipartisan Backlash Against Flock-Enabled Mass Surveillance
Criticism from Trump allies and recent survey results show that resistance to widespread deployment of automated license plate readers spans the political spectrum.
Georgia Cop Claimed Petting Zoo Donkey Was Charging at His Team When He Shot It
In an incident report, the officer who shot the donkey wrote that he had to shoot the donkey to save himself and a K-9 team from injury.
Wisconsin Cops Used Flock Over 100 Times To Track a Navy Veteran After He Lawfully Recorded a Traffic Stop
A federal lawsuit claims the Waukesha County Sheriff’s Office used the Flock cameras without a legitimate government purpose and in retaliation against the vet for exercising his First Amendment right.
The Belated Backlash Against Flock Cameras
Americans are starting to recognize the dangers of pervasive surveillance by automated license plate readers.
A Tale of Two Tech Revolts
What the simultaneous revolts against Flock and data centers can tell us about the power and risks of populism
Getting Rid of Flock Isn't Enough To Solve America's Surveillance Problem
Civil liberties advocates warn that Americans’ privacy and surveillance concerns won’t be solved without strong legal protections.
He Spent Nearly 6 Years in Prison Based on the Word of a Notoriously Dishonest Houston Drug Cop
In a federal lawsuit, Byron Prophet argues that police supervisors "turned a blind eye" for years as Gerald Goines framed innocent people.
This YouTuber Got Kicked Out of the Flock Convention. So He Ran His Own Surveillance.
Benn Jordan wants the snoopers to be “a little unsettled.”
Post-9/11 Fear Grew the Surveillance State. 25 Years Later, It's Still Growing.
The U.S. government responded in ways that are so integrated into daily life that we no longer recognize them.
Police in Atlanta Settle Eric André Lawsuit, End Airport Drug Searches
While the settlement is a good thing, it's unfortunately still the case that at airports, the Bill of Rights is more of a list of suggestions.
Border Cops Detained Me for Hours Without Explanation. They Won't Tell Me Why.
CBP claims dictatorial powers over Americans coming home. A big part of that is hiding information.
Border Agents Searched His Phone 5 Times Without a Warrant. He's Asking the Supreme Court To Put a Stop to It.
How many warrantless cellphone searches does it take to change border policy?
Flock Safety's New Privacy Rules Do Little To Ease Concerns Over ALPR Surveillance
The company’s attempts to protect Americans’ privacy “will do nothing to protect innocent people from warrantless mass surveillance,” says an Institute for Justice attorney.
Airports Are ICE's Latest Target, Raising 4th Amendment Concerns From Airlines
An apparent surge of ICE arrests in airport terminals has created viral videos and questions over ICE's authority to board planes without judicial warrants.
How Flock Camera Defenders Are Missing the Point
Robby Soave and Amber Duke attack The Free Press' latest attempt to defend Flock cameras.
Georgia Has Arrested At Least 20 Officials for Misusing the Flock Surveillance Database
Michael Soyfer, an attorney at the Institute for Justice, calls it “just the tip of the iceberg.”
Kansas Lawsuit: ALPRs Turn a License Plate Into the 'Functional Equivalent' of a 'GPS Tracking Device'
The Kansas Justice Institute argues that Wichita's "warrantless ALPR dragnet surveillance program" violates the state constitution's privacy protections.
ICE Is Shredding the Bill of Rights. Defending That Isn't Conservative.
Constitutional limits on federal authority should not be partisan matters.
Chicago Homeowner Sues Border Cops for Warrantless Raid
Will they be held responsible for the illegal search and the damage to his property?
Records Show the Government Illegally Surveilled James Comey and Confirm the Absurdity of Its Case Against Him
The Secret Service asserted a nonexistent "emergency" to track Comey's cellphone, and the FBI's evidence falls far short of proving his seashell picture was a crime.
Border Agents Can Lie To Search Your Phone, but Wiping Your Own Data Could Land You in Prison
The government is charging Samuel Tunick for telling them a code that would erase all the data on his phone—after they tried to take it on false pretenses.
Georgia Cops Keep Getting Arrested for Misusing Flock Surveillance Data
Although Flock Safety’s auditing tools have helped catch the bad actors, more is needed to protect Americans’ privacy.
Pennsylvania's Top Court Unanimously Rejects Warrantless Searches of Private Land
The justices said the "open fields" doctrine, a sweeping exception to constitutional privacy protections, does not apply in the Keystone State.
Border Cops Can Search Your Phone Whenever They Want, If You're Within 100 Miles of the Border
They can also search it without a warrant if you're flying abroad. Yes, even if you're an American citizen.
Florida Police Officer Used Mass Surveillance Network to Stalk Romantic Interest
Newly published dashcam footage shows a sheriff’s deputy driving recklessly to pull over an actress he’d met while working on the set of the TV show Bad Monkey.
Police Used a Truck Inspection To Search for Drugs. The 7th Circuit Said the Fourth Amendment Forbids It.
Cops stopped a semitruck because of a drug tip, then tried to dress the illegal search up as a routine inspection.
A Trump-Appointed Judge Quashes a Subpoena Aimed at Validating the President's Stolen-Election Fantasy
The decision rebukes the DOJ for demanding "private and sensitive" information about Georgia election workers "with no legitimate law enforcement purpose."
The Supreme Court's 'Reasonable Expectation of Privacy' Test Defies Expectations
Neil Gorsuch proposes an alternative to a Fourth Amendment standard that has proven to be an unreliable safeguard against government snooping.
The 5th Circuit Says a Houston Cop Reasonably Killed 2 Innocent People Falsely Accused of Selling Heroin
The officer's avowed reasons for killing Dennis Tuttle and Rhogena Nicholas were contradicted by the physical evidence.
Neil Gorsuch Urges Supreme Court To Correct 2 Wrong Turns That Undermined Civil Liberties
The justice criticizes the Court’s endorsement of coercive plea bargaining and its embrace of dubious Fourth Amendment doctrines.
In Chatrie, Neil Gorsuch Reiterates His Critique of 2 Dubious Fourth Amendment Doctrines
The justice argues that the "reasonable expectation of privacy" test and the third-party doctrine are indefensible in theory and unworkable in practice.
In Big Win for Fourth Amendment Advocates, the Supreme Court Says 'Geofence Warrants' Count as a 'Search'
Understanding Chatrie v. United States.
Independent Journalist's Lawsuit Against West Texas County Can Go Forward, Recommends Magistrate Judge
The case is mostly about photography restrictions and false arrest, but the defendants also allegedly "discussed playing Disney music during public meetings to prevent Flash—through copyright restrictions—from monetizing his recordings."
A Colorado Town Will Pay $675,000 To Settle a Lawsuit After a Police Officer Shot a Family's Dog
The family's attorney says it's the largest settlement for a dog shooting case in Colorado history.
Maryland Court Rules Against Unconstitutional Stop-and-Frisk in Victory for State's Gun Owners
In a unanimous opinion, the court ruled that it is unconstitutional for officers to stop and frisk someone based solely on suspicion that the person is carrying a gun.
