Judge Says Boston Student's Laptop Was Seized Illegally

You may remember a case we discussed this April in which a Boston College student's computers and other electronics were seized after he allegedly sent an email outing another student as gay. The search warrant made sure to note the student's ever-so-suspicious use of "two different operating systems," one of which was "a black screen with a white font which he uses prompt commands on." Now, the EFF reports that a Massachusetts judge has thrown out the search warrant and declared the search and seizure illegal. Quoting: "In her order Thursday, Justice Margot Botsford rejected the Commonwealth's theory that sending a hoax email might be unlawful under a Massachusetts computer crime statute barring the 'unauthorized access' to a computer, concluding that there could be no violation of what was only a 'hypothetical internet use policy.' Thursday's decision now stands as the highest state court opinion to reject the dangerous theory that terms of service violations constitute computer 'hacking' crimes. Justice Botsford further found that details offered by police as corroboration of other alleged offenses were insufficient and did not establish probable cause for the search." The court order (PDF) is available for viewing, and the EFF has broken down the significant arguments against the Commonwealth's claims.

Comments

Re:FInally someone has a clue

[Thinboy00]

Sadly there are no checks and balances in the system.

Of course there are! IANAL. Just sue the city/county/whatever for the value of your stuff. If they won't reimburse you/you can't sue them/whatever, whine to the newspapers until they do (otherwise they (the politicians) risk not getting reelected, though that works best if they're not democrats since ~all media outlets other than Fox are in bed with the dems).