They didn’t have a search warrant. They didn’t charge him with a crime. And there was nothing House could do about it.
House, 24, ran into what civil liberties advocates call the “Constitution-free zone’’ at US ports of entry, where courts have carved out broad exceptions to the Fourth Amendment’s protection against unreasonable searches and seizures.
As long as they don’t use invasive techniques such as strip searches, government agents don’t need reasonable suspicion or probable cause to seize what they want - including laptops, a 2008 appeals court ruling held.
Another person who's permanently harassed by the US border drones is Jacob Appelbaum.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob_Appelbaum
For more data see the article, and visit its references 19-25.
As of privacy enforcement for personal electronics, the Electronic
Frontiers Foundation published a fairly good guide.
https://www.eff.org/wp/defending-privacy-us-border-guide-travelers-carrying-digital-devices
On Mon, 9 Jan 2012, Its from Onion wrote:
>
> They didn t have a search warrant. They didn t charge him with a crime. And there was nothing House could do about it.House, 24, ran into what civil liberties advocates call the Constitution-free zone at US ports of entry, where courts have carved out broad exceptions to the Fourth Amendment s protection against unreasonable searches and seizures.