Orin Kerr

Orin Kerr

@orinkerr.bsky.social

Professor, Stanford Law School. Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution. Author, The Digital 4th Amendment: https://www.amazon.com/Digital-Fourth-Amendment-Privacy-Policing/dp/0190627077/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0

33.8K followers971 following3.8K posts

Orin Kerr
@orinkerr.bsky.social

It's kinda interesting from a privacy perspective that we used to leave our names in the cards of every book we checked out, with a record we checked it out on a particular date and our signature, for anyone who later has the book to see the history of who checked it out

Orin Kerr
@orinkerr.bsky.social

So you go from the 1500s Italian game "mallet ball," or pallamaglio, to the French "pallemaille," to the English name "pall-mall," to an elongated area where you would play pall mall being called a "mall," to a walking area being called a mall, to an indoor shopping area being called a mall.

Orin Kerr
@orinkerr.bsky.social

The origins of "arcade" are also interesting. So in the 1980s, when we Gen X kids went to the arcade at the mall, we were relying on some very new modern uses of older words.

Orin Kerr
@orinkerr.bsky.social

This is not correct. Courts have divided on whether the 5th Amendment privilege blocks access to compelled passwords and compelled non-biometric unlocking, and they agree there's no privilege against biometrics if the govt picks the biometric. wapo.st/4sjAmYM

Orin Kerr reposted

Stanford Law School
@law.stanford.edu

In his Lillick Chair Lecture, @orinkerr.bsky.social explored how Flock cameras are testing Fourth Amendment law and why finding a middle ground between police powers and privacy rights is difficult. Courts may end up “running towards the extremes,” he warned. law.stanford.edu/press/in-lil...

law.stanford.eduIn Lillick Chair Lecture, Orin Kerr Examines the Fourth Amendment Challenges Posed by Flock Cameras | Stanford Law SchoolOrin Kerr, the Stella W. and Ira S. Lillick Professor of Law, recently marked his appointment to the endowed chair with a lecture at Stanford Law Scho
Orin Kerr
@orinkerr.bsky.social

Some people think that Learned Hand had the perfect name for a judge. But "Learned" was the judge's middle name, not his first name. Hand's real first name was better suited for a lawyer: Billings.

Orin Kerr
@orinkerr.bsky.social

The Supreme Court often insists that Fourth Amendment rules are objective—that the government's intent doesn't matter. But there are many contexts in which intent *does* matter within 4A law, and that's not a bad thing, I argued in this 2021 article: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

Orin Kerr
@orinkerr.bsky.social

It's odd that people often say they are "humbled" to receive awards. I gather the idea is to acknowledge the award is such a high honor that you feel undeserving of it, and therefore humble *relative to it.* Still, it's a weird usage.

Orin Kerr reposted

Owen Barcala
@obarcala.bsky.social

I think we have an answer to the mysterious signature redaction. For whatever reason, they were trying to hide the fact that the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) is involved. Suzanne Drouet is counsel at OPR.

Jon Seidel@jonseidel.bsky.social

NEW: The feds' petition has been made public in unredacted form. Here's the full filing (with signature blocks below): cst.brightspotcdn.com/58/76/38fc5d...

Orin Kerr
@orinkerr.bsky.social

Niche tweet, but there's a conversation to be had, although I don't recall it happening in public, about what the role of the American Law Institute should be now that the Internet has made it so much easier to find out what the law is and academia has moved away from the legal profession.

Orin Kerr
@orinkerr.bsky.social

The Supreme Court called for a response to the cert petition from the Fifth Circuit's case on whether the Fourth Amendment allows warrantless searches of cell phones at the border.

Orin Kerr@orinkerr.bsky.social

The Anibowei v. Blanche cert petition on whether border searches of computers require a warrant is now circulated for 10/9: It remains to be seen if the Court will direct DOJ to file a brief in opposition. (The Administration waived.) www.supremecourt.gov/search.aspx?...

Orin Kerr
@orinkerr.bsky.social

Interesting question that comes up in the CA5 argument: If querying a Flock database is a search, can the government get a warrant for it, or are the databases illegal to query, at least absent exigent circumstances, under the Smith precedent? (panel is Elrod, Richman, Ramirez)

Orin Kerr@orinkerr.bsky.social

Fifth Circuit oral argument today on whether use of Flock cameras is a Fourth Amendment search, an issue on which federal district courts have recently divided in the wake of Chatrie. Link to oral argument audio, and an AI-generated transcript, here. www.courtlistener.com/audio/106726...

courtlistener.comOral Argument for United States v. Brownlee – CourtListener.comOral Argument for United States v. Brownlee