Lawsuit to Recover Illegally Seized Computers Can Continue

A Federal Judge ruled on Nov. 30 that a lawsuit brought by two Bay Area community organizations against federal agents over the seizure of their computers can continue.

Long Haul Inc. and the East Bay Prisoner Support Group (EBPS), which are represented by the ACLU of Northern California and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, were raided on August 27, 2008 by University of California Police, the Alameda County Sheriff's Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).  The officers removed every computer in the building—including those behind the locked doors of the Long Haul and EBPS offices—even though the federal Privacy Protection Act specifically protects publishers from search and seizure except in the most narrow of circumstances.

U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White rejected the government’s argument that the suit should be dismissed because the search and seizure was necessary to prevent “serious harm” and held that Long Haul Inc. and the East Bay Prisoner Support Group can proceed with their claims that government agents had no evidence that either group was involved in illegal acts and had failed to tell the judge who issued the search warrant that both groups publish newspapers.

Read the initial complaint here.