A US judge on Wednesday blocked federal prosecutors from searching data on a Washington Post reporter’s electronic devices seized during what one press freedom group called an “unconstitutional and illegal” raid last week.

US Magistrate Judge William B. Porter in Alexandria, Virginia—who also authorized the January 14 raid of Post reporter Hannah Natanson’s home—ruled that “the government must preserve but must not review any of the materials that law enforcement seized pursuant to search warrants the court issued.”

The government has until January 28 to respond to the Post’s initial legal filings against the agent’s actions. Oral arguments in the case are scheduled for February 6.

  • green_red_black@slrpnk.net
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    22 hours ago

    Because they would have to. Any lie or failure to establish where they got the data makes it inadmissible evidence.

    Yes this parallel construction was brought up but given how rather public this story is it’s going to raise brows and be asked about its origins

    • hector@lemmy.today
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      22 hours ago

      But as I said you wouldn’t be able to prove they got it in that raid. You wouldn’t be able to subpoena the information from that raid to prove they found it then at all. And even if you could, that precedent allows them to use it anyway.

      I know it’s supposed to work the way you are talking about, but it doesn’t anymore. For a very small number of people does it work the way it’s supposed to, and that was before this administration went mask off.

      • green_red_black@slrpnk.net
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        22 hours ago

        Indeed but at the same time the DOJ needs to show that the source was indeed not the raid.

        “The origin is the department records office.”

        “How did it get in the records office.”

        “We stored it after a different raid that was found illegal.”

        And even mask off it’s still “works for the small number of people.”

        The masks are off but the system is still the system