A Spanking for the FBI – WSJ

U.S. Private Vaults was a private business in Beverly Hills the government was investigating for money laundering and other things. The FBI had a warrant, but this didn t authorize a search of individual safe deposit boxes. Agents were supposed to open the boxes only to identify owners and safeguard their property until it could be returned.

But the FBI overstepped, seizing the property of innocents along with criminals. As the Ninth Circuit noted, one of U.S. Private Vaults s selling points was not asking customers too many questions e.g., demanding a Social Security number which made it attractive to drug dealers and other criminals. But that s still no excuse for the FBI to overstep its authority and then invoke civil forfeiture to keep everything it found worth more than $5,000, all without charging anyone with a crime. A group of seven safe-deposit renters sued in what became a class action, represented by the Institute for Justice.

The district court found for the government, but the Ninth Circuit has now reversed. Judge Milan Smith Jr., said the government had opened the door to the limitless searches of an individual s personal belongings that the British used in colonial America. This, the judge noted, led to the adoption of the Fourth Amendment and its protection against unreasonable searches and seizures.

If the FBI has evidence of something illegal, it can get a warrant. But the Ninth Circuit ruling is a welcome reminder that the government can t go on a fishing expedition that snares the innocent with the guilty.

via www.wsj.com

Good. Outrageous action by the FBI.