Alaina Lancaster reports:
California’s chief justice warned Facebook Inc.’s Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher attorneys that they can expect more court appearances over criminal defendants’ access to private social media messages in order to build a defense.
During a video hearing Tuesday, California Supreme Court Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye said that the court had never confronted the constitutionality of subpoenaing social media companies for users’ communications and the right to a fair trial, until Facebook v. Superior Court (Touchstone). It’s the same legal question that the U.S. Supreme Court declined to take up Monday in a similar case against Facebook that alleged the company violated two criminal defendants’ Sixth Amendment and due process rights when it refused to comply with their subpoenas.
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