The U.S. Justice Department expressed its disappointment at the child porn case handled by the FBI and ruled out by U.S. District Judge. On Wednesday, the Judge threw out the evidence came to light during the investigation of a Massachusetts man charged with child pornography. The Justice Department then pointed out the ruling highlighted the need to clarify how search warrants for electronic data could be issued in some cases.
"We are disappointed with the court's decision and are reviewing our options," said U.S. Justice Department spokesman Peter Carr, as quoted by Reuters. Furthermore, Carr stated that the case stressed the urgent need for a proposed procedural rule change. The system needs a rule change that would allow judges to issue warrants for a more remote search of computers in unknown locations that might be outside a judge's jurisdiction.
The Justice Department noted that it is now pursuing the change of rule. Carr noted that the change would not permit searches that are not already legal, as the change would be just a clarifying edit of the existing rule.
The child porn case in question was the one involving a Massachusetts man by the name Alex Levin. He was arrested for possession of child pornography. According to ZDNet, the FBI used malware to track him down, along with other suspected pedophiles accessing child pornography. Previously, the FBI has already found illegal videos and photo on Alex's laptop in August 2015. However, the investigators continued to run the servers using a software to identify users, even though the users used a Tor network that could facilitate anonymous identity.
However, the Massachusetts District Court Judge William Young has decided to rule out the evidence gathered through the malware used by the FBI to identify the users. Furthermore, the Judge said that he considered the investigation process an unlawful search, as the local magistrate judge that had allowed the FBI to use the malware lacked authority to issue the warrant. There is also an issue of jurisdiction in which Levin's lawyers claimed that the search of the defendant's computer violated the jurisdiction requirement for searches under Fed, as reported by Tribu Magazine.
As a response to the initiation of change by the Justice Department, the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to deliver its opinion on the proposed change by May 1. Then the process would be left for the Congress to accept, reject, or modify the proposed change. The Congress will have seven months to act on the change.
The Justice Department is pursuing a change in ruling in the wake of the child porn case involving Alex Levin, in which the judge ruled out evidence found in the investigation because of jurisdiction violation. The Justice Department is disappointed with the case and is proposing a change that would make it possible for judges to issue warrants for a search of computers in unknown locations, even though it's outside the judge's jurisdiction.
