Court upholds laptop searches at border

A federal court has tossed out a lawsuit trying to prevent the government from searching laptops, cellphones and other devices at US border checkpoints. The circuit judge’s decision to uphold the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) policy was a blow to civil liberties groups that argued the practice violated the Constitution’s protection against unreasonable search and seizure.

According to government documents, officials at the border search and copy the contents of thousands of people’s devices each year and can detain the devices for a short period of time without a reasonable suspicion that the traveler has committed a crime. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers filed a lawsuit challenging the DHS policy in 2010, on behalf of the National Press Photographers Association and Pascal Abidor, a French-American man whose laptop was confiscated at the Canadian border. But in his opinion, Judge Edward Korman wrote that the groups did not have standing to dispute the DHS searches because “there is not a substantial risk that their electronic devices will be subject to a search or seizure without reasonable suspicion.” Judge Korman wrote that border agents did indeed have “reasonable suspicion” to check the laptop, since Abidor had recently returned from Lebanon and was carrying pictures of Hezbollah and Hamas rallies. The ACLU said it was considering an appeal of the decision.

[Dec 31]