National Center for Missing & Exploited Children

The Clinic prepared and submitted to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court amicus briefs on behalf of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children in Commonwealth v. Kaupp (pdf) and Commonwealth v. Bryant (pdf), both criminal appeals relating to statutory and constitutional limits on seizing and searching computers.  In the  Bryant opinion (pdf), the SJC affirmed the trial court’s decision, the result sought in the amicus brief, but did not reach the computer search issue.  In the Kaupp opinion, the SJC used its discretion to reach the issue and held that, as argued in the amicus brief, the police do not need to complete the forensic analysis of a seized computer and other electronic data storage devices within the prescribed period for executing a search warrant.