Court orders company to turn over metadata from anti-Trump website

[Leroy N. Soetoro]

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/08/24/court-orders-company-to-turn-
over-metadata-from-anti-trump-
website.html?intcmp=ob_article_footer_text&intcmp=obnetwork

A District of Columbia judge sided Thursday with the Justice Department in
ordering web-hosting service DreamHost to turn over certain metadata from
an anti-Trump website.

The site, disruptj20.org, helped organize political protests against the
Trump administration including one on Inauguration Day which resulted in
property damage and scores of arrests. The government’s subsequent push
for information from the hosting service has touched off a constitutional
battle between the federal government and the company.

Chief Judge Robert Morin, of the Superior Court of the District of
Columbia, acknowledged Thursday in court that he was struggling to balance
First Amendment rights with the valid concerns of law enforcement
enforcing a search warrant based on probable cause. While the DOJ has
backed off its initial, controversial request for IP addresses, the
government still wants other personal information included in the metadata
from DreamHost – a request Morin granted.

But the challenge is to focus on pertinent emails from people organizing
violent protests without violating the privacy of ordinary website
visitors. Morin tried to include safeguards to protect First Amendment
rights, by forcing the government to separate records of innocent users
from those that fall within the guidelines of the search warrant and to
seal all those records.

Defense attorneys, though, warned of the “chilling effect” of even turning
over the records, much less letting government investigators “rummage”
through the emails.

“The individuals who are visiting, and becoming members of an advocacy
group will still know that at some point, someday, there is going to be an
FBI agent sitting there and looking at this information,” DreamHost
defense attorney Raymond Aghaian said. “At the time this information is in
the government’s possession and at the time that the FBI agent is
reviewing that email ... that, in DreamHost’s view, has itself a chilling
effect on the exercise of political expression and the right to
association under the First Amendment.”

Defense attorneys added that, in their view, this case isn’t about
protecting this personal information once it has been turned over, but
rather preventing the information from being turned over at all.

DreamHost attorneys asked Morin, who was appointed by former President
Bill Clinton, for a stay while they determine whether they want to appeal
his ruling.

Morin told them to turn over all the metadata relevant to the search
warrant for now, but ordered the government not to review the information
until defense attorneys decide whether to appeal.


--
Donald J. Trump, 304 electoral votes to 227, defeated compulsive liar in
denial Hillary Rodham Clinton on December 19th, 2016. The clown car
parade of the democrat party has run out of gas.

Congratulations President Trump. Thank you for ending the disaster of the
Obama presidency.

Under Barack Obama's leadership, the United States of America became the
The World According To Garp.

ObamaCare is a total 100% failure and no lie that can be put forth by its
supporters can dispute that.

Obama jobs, the result of ObamaCare. 12-15 working hours a week at minimum
wage, no benefits and the primary revenue stream for ObamaCare. It can't
be funded with money people don't have, yet liberals lie about how great
it is.

Obama increased total debt from $10 trillion to $20 trillion in the eight
years he was in office, and sold out heterosexuals for Hollywood queer
liberal democrat donors.