FC: Ninth Circuit OKs fax intercepts: "Police need latitude!"

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

http://news.com.com/2100-1023-961955.html

   Appeals court OKs fax intercepts
   By Declan McCullagh 
   October 14, 2002, 11:08 AM PT

   FBI agents were not overzealous when conducting electronic
   surveillance against members of anti-government group the Montana
   Freemen, a federal appeals court has ruled.
   
   In what appears to be the first decision dealing with fax
   interception, a three-judge panel from the Ninth Circuit Court of
   Appeals said on Friday that police did not violate federal wiretap
   laws when spying on the group, whose key members were convicted in
   1998 of bank fraud.
   
   Legal experts said the 3-0 ruling, a considerable victory for the
   government, reaffirms police abilities to seek court approval to snare
   e-mail--with little worries about running afoul of federal law.
   
   "Law enforcement is entitled to latitude to scrutinize messages by
   conspirators, because such messages may contain double meanings and
   implied purposes, or even be conveyed in secret code," the court wrote
   in a 22-page opinion. "We decline to adopt a rule that would require
   law enforcement to review conspirators' communications with a blind
   eye."

   [...]



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