DIGITAL PRIVACY BEFORE JUSTICES TODAY | Whistleblowers Likely To Lose Protections | SCOTUS Suspended Wrong Guy
November 29, 2017
SO CALL ME MAYBE
|Today, the Supreme Court hears arguments in a case experts say could have a huge effect on how law enforcement deals with matters of privacy in the digital age. The case concerns whether investigators need warrants to obtain cell tower data to track the movements of cell phone users over extended periods of time. It’s not about the content of the calls — it’s all about location, location, location.
ED BOARD OVERTURE
|The Editorial Board of The Wall Street Journal isn’t so impressed by the privacy arguments of today’s SCOTUS case, unconvinced that the threat of abuse to privacy is enough to warrant an upheaval from the justices.
IN PLAIN LANGUAGE
|During arguments yesterday, the justices indicated that they’re ready to toss out some protections for whistleblowers suing companies for illegal retaliation. The justices were hung up on the language of the 2010 Dodd-Frank law, skeptical that whistleblowers who report corporate wrongdoing internally instead of to the SEC are protected under it. JUSTICE NEIL GORSUCH noted, “I’m just stuck on the plain language here. How much clearer could Congress have been than to say in this section the following definitions shall apply, and whistleblower is defined as including a report to the commission.”
A SUPREME MIX-UP
|Mark Sherman with The Associated Press reports that for the second time this year, the Supreme Court mistakenly suspended the wrong guy from its prestigious bar, despite the lawyer having served at the high court for seven years. The court acknowledged the mistake Monday and the lawyer, JIM ROBBINS, took it in stride. “They suspended me?” a surprised Robinson asked with a chuckle.
OTHER NEWS
Why Ban On Sports Betting Is Close To Being Overturned
USA Today“Monday, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments about the constitutionality of PASPA, and the nine justices are expected to issue a ruling by the spring. It’s worth noting that Utah, a state that has no gambling, has joined 19 states signing onto a court filing that challenges PASPA on the grounds that the federal ban infringes on states’ rights.”
Your Phone Knows Where You've Been, And The Government Wants To Know Too
Los Angeles Times“United States vs. Carpenter concerns a man, Timothy Carpenter, who was not an addict seeking relief in secret or a political protester; he was an armed robber convicted in part on the basis of cell tower data. Surely, the government should be able to get this information to prove such cases, shouldn’t it? Of course it should. Right after it gets a search warrant.”