Adam Klasfeld reports that the NYCLU, the NYU Law Chapter of the American Constitution Society, the New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and four tech companies – FourSquare, Kickstarter, Meetup and Vimeo – have filed an amicus brief asking the New York Court of Appeals to overturn a ruling that allowed prosecutors to rummage through the accounts of 381 Facebook users.
As Klasfeld reviews the history of the case:
A little more than two years ago, the Manhattan District Attorney’s office presented Facebook with a bulk warrant, part of a large-scale investigation into the fraudulent filing of Social Security disability claims.
Prosecutors wanted to pin down whether a group of retired police officers and firefighters faked mental illness triggered by the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
As of a few months ago, the probe led to charges against 62 people, but the bulk warrants named hundreds of Facebook accounts – and gagged the website from informing the targets about the requests.
Read more on Courthouse News.