I just uploaded the final published version of my essay, Fourth Amendment Pragmatism, 51 B.C. L. Rev. 1511 (2010) to SSRN. Here’s the abstract:
Fourth Amendment Pragmatism
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More Fun with the Airline Screening Playset: Body Imaging X-Ray Edition!
I’ve been following the recent controversy over the TSA’s body imaging X-ray machines, otherwise known as the “backscatter” or “exhibit-yourself-in-the-nude” devices. It made me reminisce about an old post I wrote about the Playmobil airline screening playset.
I had not used the playset for a while. Five long years have elapsed since my post, and I had outgrown this toy and moved on to more advanced ones. But this recent controversy made me regress. . . .
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The Slow Demise of Defamation and the Privacy Torts
The ABA Journal reports [link no longer available] that the number of libel suits has been steadily dropping in the United States:
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Privacy and Youth
A new poll by Common Sense Media reveals some interesting data about privacy and youth. The poll was conducted by Zogby International:
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The Clementi Suicide and Invasion of Privacy
The media has been reporting on the tragic suicide of Tyler Clementi, a student at Rutgers University. From CNN:
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Are People Really Harmed By a Data Breach?
“It’s just a flesh wound.”
— Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Over at Privacy & Security Source, Andrew Serwin, a leading privacy lawyer and author of an excellent treatise on privacy law, has a very thoughtful and informative post [link no longer available] about cases where courts found no harm to individuals by data security breaches. Serwin observes:
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An Interview with Ronald Collins on Justice Holmes and Free Speech
In his new book, The Fundamental Holmes: A Free Speech Chronicle and Reader (Cambridge University Press, 2010), Ronald Collins guides us through the free speech writings of Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. Ron is the Harold S. Shefelman scholar at the University of Washington School of Law and a fellow at the Washington, D.C., office of the First Amendment Center.
Ron’s book contains numerous excerpts from Holmes’s great judicial opinions, correspondence, essays, and books. Far from composing the book mainly of excerpts, Ron has provided very extensive commentary and background throughout. Ron is steeped in the history of his subject and has a rich understanding of the law and theory of the First Amendment. There is no better guide to help us understand Holmes’s work and thought as it relates to free speech.
I recently had a chance to talk with Ron about the book.
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Cell Phone Stalking
According to the Wall St. Journal, “more than 25,000 adults in the U.S. are victims of GPS stalking annually, including by cellphone.” The article notes that a cell phone account holder can track everyone on the account. Users are notified by text message but can’t stop it.
This tracking policy might work well with a pesky teenager, but what about cases of domestic violence?
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Naked Lies and the Airport Body Scan
Despite many objections, the TSA has been moving forward on using new airport body scan machines that show people’s naked bodies. I blogged about these machines here [link no longer available]. “Never fear,” they told us. “We care about privacy. We really care! And so we promise we won’t store the images.”
So much for that promise. From CNET:
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Is it Illegal to Post an Image of the FBI’s Seal?
According to CNN:
The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation has threatened Wikipedia with legal action if the online encyclopedia doesn’t remove the FBI’s seal from its site.
The seal is featured in an encyclopedia entry about the FBI.
Wikipedia isn’t backing down, however. The online encyclopedia — which is run by a nonprofit group and is edited by the public — sent a chiding letter to the FBI, explaining why, in its view, the FBI is off its legal rocker.
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