(Pre-Search Instructions and Post-Search Reasonableness)

A Report by NACDL’s Fourth Amendment Advocacy Committee Reporter, Steven R. Morrison [Released July 2014]

The Fourth Amendment has entered the digital age. New surveillance technologies and programs — from GPS tracking devices to automated license plate readers to bulk data collection — have upended traditional law enforcement practices and created new challenges for defense lawyers. This report offers an overview of this symposium and the substantive areas of concern related to new technological and legal changes that impact Fourth Amendment protections in criminal cases. [Released June 2016]

In response to a series of high-profile police killings of unarmed people of color, law enforcement agencies across the country began adopting body cameras as a solution to requests for more transparency and accountability. In order to study the impact of body cameras on the rights of the accused, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers established a Body Camera Task Force comprised of defense attorneys from across the country. [Released March 2017]

Police body-worn camera footage can be inconclusive at best and misleading at worst, and thus it is imperative that the defense community understand the key technical features of body-worn camera systems. For example, police body-worn cameras automatically save the 30 seconds of footage prior to the officer activating the camera. Moreover, other available data kept by camera systems could reveal which officers reviewed the footage and when, and who marked the video for deletion.

HOW IS A CELL PHONE’S LOCATION IDENTIFIED? A cell phone’s location can be detected through cell site location information (CSLI) or global positioning system (GPS) data. CSLI refers to the information collected as a cell phone identifies its location to nearby cell towers. CSLI from nearby cell towers can indicate a cell phone’s approximate location. With information from multiple cell towers, a technique called “triangulation” is used to locate a cell phone with greater precision. Cell phone location information can be “historical” or “prospective.”

Cell Site Simulator Primer.

ALPR Primer.

Letter to the Judicial Conference Standing Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure regarding proposed changes to procedures in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.

If an image of a perpetrator exists on a cellphone camera, video surveillance, body camera footage or social media, law enforcement can use facial recognition software to attempt to identify the person in the photo. Defense attorney Kaitlin Jackson discusses the limitations of facial recognition, and she explains how to determine if police used facial recognition in a defendant’s case. Facial recognition software is difficult to challenge, but ways exist to attack its reliability.

Coalition letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee leadership regarding the Judicious Use of Surveillance Tools In Counterterrorism Efforts (JUSTICE) Act S. 1686 (2009).

NACDL past president Gerald Goldstein's statement to the Senate Judiciary Committee regarding ensuring the right to counsel in antiterrorism actions, including with the use of the USA PATRIOT Act.

Courts have long made it clear that agents can search the bags of people entering the country. For the past decade or so, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has applied that logic to digital devices. NACDL members are uniquely exposed to abuse in this context: digita

When the Government Becomes a Lawbreaker - Washington, DC (December 21, 2005) -- Contrary to the White House’s assertions, neither Congress nor the Supreme Court has ever explicitly given the Executive Branch a green light to conduct domestic electronic eavesdropping without a warrant in “national security” matters.

Dozens of public and private entities – including police departments and small towns – have received authorization to fly drones domestically. Drones can do a lot more than take pictures. They can be outfitted with thermal devices, license plate readers, and laser radar. There is a need for legislation to protect the privacy rights of people.