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"We must decide whether customs officers at Los Angeles International Airport may examine the electronic contents of a passenger's laptop computer without reasonable suspicion."

"We must decide whether customs officers at Los Angeles International Airport may examine the electronic contents of a passenger's laptop computer without reasonable suspicion." So begins the opinion that a unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued today.

Based on that examination, the passenger was later charged with possessing and transporting child pornography. U.S. District Judge Dean D. Pregerson, however, granted the passenger's motion to suppress the evidence discovered during the examination of the laptop.

Today's Ninth Circuit ruling describes the passenger's arguments on appeal as follows:

Arnold argues that the district court was correct in concluding that reasonable suspicion was required to search his laptop at the border because it is distinguishable from other containers of documents based on its ability to store greater amounts of information and its unique role in modern life.

Arnold argues that "laptop computers are fundamentally different from traditional closed containers," and analogizes them to "homes" and the "human mind." Arnold's analogy of a laptop to a home is based on his conclusion that a laptop's capacity allows for the storage of personal documents in an amount equivalent to that stored in one's home. He argues that a laptop is like the "human mind" because of its ability to record ideas, e-mail, internet chats and web-surfing habits.

Despite the creativity of these arguments, today's Ninth Circuit ruling reverses the district court's suppression order, thereby paving the way for the child pornography prosecution to go forward.

Full post as published by How Appealing on April 21, 2008 (boomark / email).