Judge Backs Amazon, Raps Feds Over Book Records

netbuzz alerts us to a ruling in federal court that has just been made public. US Magistrate Judge Stephen Crocker told the Feds to lay off Amazon in denying prosecutors' requests for records of who bought what books at the online retailer. The judge wrote, "The [subpoena's] chilling effect on expressive e-commerce would frost keyboards across America." Prosecutors had demanded 24,000 transaction records from Amazon, all in service of convicting a city official on charges of fraud and tax evasion. In the end they found customer information on the official's PC, where they should have looked in the first place.

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Can we elect this guy?

[Billosaur]

[U.S. Magistrate Judge Stephen] Crocker -- who unsealed documents detailing the showdown against prosecutors' wishes -- said he believed prosecutors were seeking the information for a legitimate purpose. But he said First Amendment concerns were justified and outweighed the subpoena's law enforcement purpose.

"The subpoena is troubling because it permits the government to peek into the reading habits of specific individuals without their knowledge or permission," Crocker wrote. "It is an unsettling and un-American scenario to envision federal agents nosing through the reading lists of law-abiding citizens while hunting for evidence against somebody else."

So, not everybody in the American legal system is providing a rubber stamp for Federal nosiness. I can't believe the Feds actually thought this was a viable thing -- perhaps they've been swayed by all the success with warrant-less wiretapping and private snooping. I think this may be representative of a desire by the lower courts to put the breaks on rampant violations of American civil rights. At least, one can hope.

Laziness, pure and simple.

[e9th]

This wasn't a situation where, say, a child is in imminent danger and they need the information now.

It's simply a case of the cops' unwillingness to do some good old-fashioned police work. Good for you, Judge Crocker.

Re:Amazon has dangerous material

[MightyYar]

As usual, the situation is not as black and white as that documentary tries to make it seem. Prior to anti-psychotic drugs (in the 70s), we just locked up psychotics. Carter let 'em all out, because when they took their drugs, they were not a danger to themselves or others.

Problem is, they don't take their drugs. So you have a lot of bat-nuts homeless guys out wandering around without their medication.

So what do you do? Put 'em back in the institution even though they don't pose a threat, or make their meds "compulsory" and just accept that they will ignore the compulsory part.

For the record, anyone who decides that they are "defending the constitution against the federal government" is probably bat-nuts. They are talking about the Timothy McVeigh types, not some guy on slashdot who points out 1st amendment protections are being violated. If you notice in the documentary, they are picking out little tidbits from the FBI document - I have a feeling that it seems much less alarming if you look at the whole thing and don't snip little bits out of context.

That's right!

[iknownuttin]

FTFA: "It is an unsettling and un-American scenario to envision federal agents nosing through the reading lists of law-abiding citizens while hunting for evidence against somebody else."

And:"If the government had been more diligent in looking for workarounds instead of baring its teeth when Amazon balked, it's probable that this entire First Amendment showdown could have been avoided," he wrote

Damn straight it is un-American! I just wish the agents and presecutors involved would get reprimanded! Or better yet, fired for incompetence.

Re:This is America Right?

[QCompson]

Wait... what's that... fascism does not rule in America like some people on the internet say. You've lost me now. Crackpot!!

Har Har! See, it's funny because everyone thinks the American government is headed in the wrong direction and people are worried about the loss of civil liberties. However, this one time the Feds weren't able to steamroll through the justice system with excuses about national security, state secrets, and executive power. So therefore all those naysayers were wrong! Everything's a-ok! Don't worry about warrantless wiretapping, telecom immunity, or national security letters. Funny ha-ha!

Re:This is America Right?

[jdjbuffalo]

Just because there is a problem with some parts of the government doesn't mean that the whole government and everyone in it is corrupt.

However, the longer you let corruption fester without confronting it, the more systemic it gets and eventually it will spread to every corner of the government. I don't think we're there yet in this country but unfortunately we are well on our way.

"Evil triumphs when good men do nothing" - Unknown, but often attributed to Edmund Burke

Re:This is America Right?

[garcia]

Blah blah blah. The single "activist judge" who didn't kowtow in this particular instance -- woofuckinghoo for checks and balances.

I'm sorry but this one particular example does, in no way, bring us back on an even playing field prior to the Bush Administration's far-reaching and scary-as-fuck violations of privacy all in the name of the ever so popular terrorism.

You make it sound

[Foerstner]

...as if "a child is in imminent danger" is sufficient cause to abrogate the First Amendment.

Re:This is America Right?

[Stanislav_J]

It generally doesn't happen overnight, or all at once. A certain paperhanger and his minions didn't transform Germany in one fell swoop -- it was done gradually, eroding the rights and privacies of the people little by little, step by step, always under the guise of it being for their own good or protection from bad guys. I'm not necessarily making a direct comparison here.....I'm just saying....

Forget amazon

[OrangeTide]

I think I just like that Judge.

Re:You make it sound

[lgw]

One way to infringe on my freedom of the press is to outright ban the sale of my book. Another is to have government agents standing in popular bookstores making a show of taking down the names of anyone who buys my book. When the government forces Amazon to give over customer records it infringes the first amendment through this chilling effect, whether the goverment is doing it because a childs life is in immanent danger (Think Of The Children!!!!!one!!) or not.