Editorial: Senate Judiciary Pushes Warrants for Emails

The U.S. Senate is expected to consider in 2013 legislation approved by its Judiciary Committee that requires law enforcement to get a search warrant before reviewing someone’s electronic communications.

It is an update that appears to be long overdue.

In this digital world, where memos, letters and file cabinets have been replaced with text messages, emails and the cloud, the 1986 Electronic Communications Privacy Act has been as slow at keeping pace as a dial-up connection.

The sponsor of the update, Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., points out that digital computer files should have the same safeguards as paper files stored in a home. He explains Americans “face even greater threats to their digital privacy, as we witness the explosion of new technologies and the expansion of the government’s surveillance powers.”

The Justice Department has cautioned lawmakers to consider the impact on criminal and national security investigations if law enforcement has to get a warrant to obtain emails and other digital files.

They should. That impact is directly in line with the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

The Senate and House should give the issue sufficient debate, but barring unforeseen concerns it should lead to quick approval of this legislation when they reconvene in 2013.

This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers.