Judge Napolitano Applauds Senate Panel's Passage of Email Privacy Bill: 'This Preserves Americans' Constitutional Right to Privacy'
A Senate committee has passed a bill that would require authorities to have a search warrant before they go through your emails or other electronic communications. Believe it or not, as it stands right now they only need a search warrant from a judge for emails less than six months old, under a law passed in 1986.
The full Senate is expected to take up the measure early next year.
Judge Andrew Napolitano joined Shepard Smith on Studio B today, saying it is "nonsense" for the government to claim that the bill would delay investigations by a significant amount of time.
"I have a very well known colleague who once signed a search warrant on the back of a motorcycle at four o'clock in the afternoon in downtown Washington, D.C. So this is nonsense that you can't get a search warrant when you need it. A search warrant assures that there won't be fishing expeditions, so that the police have real evidence of a real crime before they can invade your privacy," said Napolitano.
He went on to explain the original law actually pertained to a person's financial transactions, like a wire transfer. But now, he pointed out that federal agents have been using the statute to look at older emails or other private communications even though they're not bank-related.
"We have the right (under the Constitution) to be left alone. This bill today will preserve that right," he said.
Watch the full discussion:
