Civil Liberties Online

In re United States, 352 F. Supp. 2d 45, 47 (D. Mass. 2005)

Surveillance Power: Expanding the Scope of the Government?s Surveillance Power

PART C: Access to Business Records Held in Third Party Storage

The United States Attorney applied for a court order to obtain information from a telecommunications provider.  However, the telecommunications provider disclosed the information before a court order was ever obtained.  Therefore, the government sought a retroactive court order to sanction the action of the telecommunications provider.  The government argued that the information was disclosed during an emergency situation and therefore no court order was needed at the time the information was obtained.  The court found that a kidnapping case involving a ransom was an emergency situation as imagined by section 212 of the PATRIOT Act and the Homeland Security Act, 6 U.S.C. ? 101 (11).  Therefore, a retroactive court order was unnecessary and denied because a telecommunications provider may disclose information without a court order in an emergency setting.