The Fourth Amendment site has posted an interesting result for a search and seizure suit, related to digital forensics.

United States v. Stewart, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 50876 (E.D. Mich. May 24, 2010)

A laptop searched at the border turned up illegal data. A second laptop had no power and no adapter so it was instead seized and taken away to a lab where further investigation could be performed. This provoked a lawsuit claiming Fourth Amendment rights were violated.

The US District Court just ruled that law enforcement needs to show “a particularized and objective basis for suspicion” to be allowed to move data/devices to forensic labs.