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From: mnemonic@walt.cc.utexas.edu (Mike Godwin)
Newsgroups: comp.org.eff.news
Subject: Re: Search Warrants & Organizations (was Re: Missing mission)
Message-ID: <20745@well.sf.ca.us>
Date: 10 Sep 90 04:48:46 GMT
References: <1990Sep10.012530.4008@cs.rochester.edu>
Sender: tenney@well.sf.ca.us
Reply-To: mnemonic@walt.cc.utexas.edu (Mike Godwin)
Organization: The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas
Lines: 32
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Brian Yamauchi writes:

>Perhaps some net.legal.expert can answer a question -- can Steve Jackson
>(and other victims) sue the SS (and other agencies) for his losses?  If
>he does, what are his chances (assuming he and his employees are not
>charged/convicted)?

Based on what we currently know about the warrant, the chances are
not very good. In general, the Federal Tort Claims Act bars actions
against law-enforcement agents and agencies that cause harm to individuals
while executing a lawful warrant. For a cause of action to accrue
against, say, the Secret Service, it would have to be shown that the
SS went beyond the authorization of the search warrant when they sought
and seized all that property and paper and Steve Jackson Games.

Now, the warrant was sealed, which means that few people have had
access to the warrant itself and therefore few  can say whether the 
language of the warrant has been overstepped. But since very broad
search warrants have been held to be lawful in the past, I think the
odds are fairly poor that Steve Jackson Games will recover in tort
against the federal government.

It's still possible, however, that we may all be surprised on that
issue.


--Mike



Mike Godwin, UT Law School  |"If the doors of perception were cleansed
mnemonic@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu | every thing would appear to man as it is,
(512) 346-4190              | infinite."
                            |                 --Blake