In an important ruling on the rights of students, the U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) ruled that the Safford Unified School District’s strip search of a middle school teenage girl accused of having prescription-strength ibuprofen was illegal. In its 8-1 ruling with Justice Clarence Thomas as the lone dissenter on the main question, the justices held…
Category: Surveillance
Forcible DNA extraction violated the Constitution
A Las Vegas detective violated an inmate’s constitutional rights by “forcibly extracting” his DNA without a warrant while he was shackled and chained to a bench, the 9th Circuit ruled on a 2-1 vote. The extraction was requested by Deputy District Attorney Elissa Luzaich, who wanted to put Kenneth Friedman’s DNA sample into a cold-case…
‘Peeping Tom Landlord’ pleads guilty
The man prosecutors dubbed the “Peeping Tom Landlord” could be peering from behind prison bars for a long time now that he’s admitted to using electronic devices to videotape women who lived in his Norristown apartment buildings. Thomas Daley, 46, formerly of the 1000 block of Spring City Road, Phoenixville, pleaded guilty in Montgomery County…
Chipped phones can track consumers
RFID stories seem to come in threes. This one, from Threat Level, is about how mobile phones will be chipped — for better or worse: An Ericsson executive says all new mobile phones sold in 2010 will include an RFID chip that will allow owners to open their car or house door with their phone….