Military and Criminal Defense

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Landmark Email Seizure Decision by 6th Circuit Court

The 6th Circuit Court, in a landmark decision, has applied the Fourth Amendment to an email seizure decision. The decision, U.S. v. Warshak, involved the secret seizure of the defendant's email from the Internet Service Provider, without a warrant.

Martin G. Weinberg of Boston, Attorney for the defendant, commented that in the 25 years the Department of Justice has been seizing emails with this practice, no appellate court has challenged it with the Fourth Amendment. He said, “It constitutes a seismic change in how the government is going to attempt to acquire the content of e-mails.”

John L. Calcagni, III, former Special Assistant U.S. Attorney and RI Criminal Defense Attorney said,“I don’t think you’d find an American out there who would disagree with the fact that we have an expectation of privacy in communications we transmit through e-mail. Because of the changing technology, the law itself needs to evolve. This seems to be a case where the justices in the 6th Circuit have addressed those changes in a way that is consistent with the protections of the Fourth Amendment.”

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The Law Office of John L. Calcagni III offers clients representation in the areas of Criminal Defense, Military Defense, Federal Criminal Defense, OUI Defense in MA , and Assault and Battery matters. John L. Calcagni, III is licensed to practice in state and federal courts in the States of Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, Florida, and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

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