Oregon Bill to Require Warrants for Cellphone Data Passes Senate Committee

A bipartisan Oregon bill that would prohibit law enforcement from obtaining information from electronic devices without a warrant in most cases unanimously passed a Senate committee last week. The proposed bill would not only protect privacy in Oregon, but would also address a practical effect of NSA spying.

Sen. Chip Shields (D-Portland), Rep. Jennifer Williamson (D-Portland), Sen. Tim Knopp (R – Bend) and Rep. John Huffman (R-The Dalles) introduced Senate Bill 641 (SB641) in February. The legislation prohibits state and local law enforcement officers from searching portable electronic devices without a warrant except int he case of “an imminent threat to public safety.” Even if police lawfully arrests a suspect, they must still get a warrant to access information on that person’s portable electronic devices.

SB641 stipulates that any information “obtained” in violation of the law:

(a) Is not admissible in and may not be disclosed in a judicial proceeding, administrative proceeding, arbitration proceeding or other adjudicatory proceeding; and

(b) May not be used to establish reasonable suspicion or probable cause to believe that an offense has been committed.

SB641 passed the Senate Committee on Judiciary 5-0 last Friday. It will now move on to the full Senate for further consideration.

IMPACT ON FEDERAL PROGRAMS

SB641 would not only limit the actions of state and local law enforcement in Oregon, it would also end one practical effect of federal, warrantless spying. By making any information “obtained” in violation of the law inadmissible in court, it would stop state and local law enforcement from using such information shared with them by federal agencies like the NSA.

Reuters revealed the extent of NSA data sharing with state and local law enforcement in an August 2013 article. According to documents obtained by the news agency, the NSA passes information to police through a formerly secret DEA unit known Special Operations Divisions (SOD). The report revealed the cases “rarely involve national security issues.” Almost all of the information sharing involves regular criminal investigations.

According to the documents obtained by Reuters, after the SOD passes data along to state or local law enforcement, it then works with them to “create” an investigation, working backward to obscure the origin of the information in a process known as “parallel construction.” In other words, not only does the NSA collect and store bulk data and information collected without a warrant, the spy agency encourages state and local law enforcement to violate the Fourth Amendment by making use of this information in day-to-day investigations.

Former NSA Chief Technical Director William Binney called this process country’s “greatest threat since the Civil War.”

SB641 would make information and obtained by third parties like the NSA in violation of state law inadmissible in court, ending parallel construction.

Mike Maharrey writes for the TenthAmendmentCenter.com where this article first appeared.