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People v. Endacott (Cal. Ct. App. - July 16, 2008)

By Shaun Martin

This is another one of those cases -- this time, from the California Court of Appeal -- holding that it's totally okay for customs to look through the contents of your laptop at the border (here, at LAX) even without any reasonable suspicion of a crime. The Ninth Circuit had held the same thing here and here, and it's not at all surprising that the California Court of Appeal goes the same way.

Still, I gotta say, Part I of the opinion (which was the relevant portion) was way too flip for me. I think there are good counterarguments. Or at least decent ones. That should at least be addressed.

I forthrightly admit that I'm in the minority on the merits here. Nonetheless, I don't think that this issue is so clearcut and unimportant that it requires only perfunctory discussion.

One person's view, anyway.

Regardless, practical counsel: (1) Don't put kiddie porn on your laptop. Especially when reentering the U.S. And especially when reetering from Thailand. (2) Don't put anything -- anything -- on your laptop (letters to your spouse, financial data, attorney-client communications, etc.) that you bring back to the U.S. that you're not totally willing to give the government free rein to examine.

Full post as published by California Appellate Report on July 16, 2008 (boomark / email).