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CA2d: Border search of laptop without suspicion was valid

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Search of a laptop at Customs at LAX for child pornography on return from Thailand was valid. (Thailand is a source country for child porn.) No reasonable suspicion is required for a laptop search at the border. The later search of the computer was a lawful extension of the border search. People v. Endacott, 2008 Cal. App. LEXIS 1068 (2d Dist. July 16, 2008): Indeed, the human race has not yet, at least, become so robotic that opening a computer is similar to a strip search or body cavity search. Of course viewing confidential computer files implicates dignity and privacy interests. But no more so than opening a locked brief case, which may contain writings describing the owner's intimate thoughts or photographs depicting child pornography...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on July 19, 2008 (boomark / email).