In the post-Dobbs landscape, states are criminalizing reproductive health in a variety of ways. Law enforcement will likely reach for digital surveillance tools in these cases and defenders will need to know how to counter that evidence. NACDL's Criminalization of Reproductive Health Taskforce and 4th Amendment Center researched categories of pregnancy criminalization, connected them to types of surveillance that law enforcement might use, and connected those to resources. Some tools show up several times on this page, which speaks to the omnipresence of these types of surveillance. 

A cell phone’s location can be detected through cell site location information (CSLI) or global positioning system (GPS) data. CSLI refers to the information collected as a cell phone identifies its location to nearby cell towers.

22^nd Annual State Criminal Justice Network Conference
August 16-17, 2023 | Held Virtually

Law enforcement has increasingly turned to Google to identify criminal suspects by using digital dragnets that search millions or billions of people at once.

NACDL adopts a report and recommendations on law enforcement searches of digital evidence.

White collar lawyers must weigh various considerations in determining how to obtain mobile phone data or limit the government’s access to data. When can the government compel a client to provide the passcode to a mobile device? What is the significance of whether an executive’s mobile phone is owned by the executive or the corporation? This article provides tips about obtaining, protecting, preserving, and reviewing data on mobile phones.

Nearly every case involves a cell phone or an online account. Laws on device and account searches are continuing to evolve, as courts reconsider old doctrines that do not fit with the realities of the digital age. Below, find sample motions on suppressing emails, passcodes, and other electronically stored information.

Geofence warrants, a type of reverse search warrant, compel companies, like Google, to turn over substantial information about devices interacting with their technology within a particular geographic region. For this reason, geofence warrants mark an unprecedented increase in the government's ability to locate individuals without investigation. This primer will show you how geofence warrants are constructed and outline strategies to challenge these warrants when they appear in criminal cases. 

With an increasing number of police departments across the country turning to unregulated, untested, and flawed facial recognition technology to identify suspects, it is vital defenders understand the technology, its limitations, and how to challenge its use in their cases.

Subject matter experts and litigators from NACDL’s Fourth Amendment Center explain and discuss some of the important digital technology issues that defense counsel will very likely encounter in these cases. The faculty focus on reverse searches, facial recognition, and device searches.

Case law generally requires law enforcement officers to get a warrant before they search a cellphone, track someone’s location, or obtain sensitive records from service providers. The question whether a warrant is necessary is only the first step. The next question: What does a warrant require? Jennifer Granick reveals the three ways current search warrant practice falls short. She lays out the legal arguments favoring narrow, tailored searches and seizures.

(Updated Jan. 18, 2023, see below) Since 2010, law enforcement agencies in the United States have had direct access to an increasing volume of bulk data about people’s wire transfer transactions. The core of this previously secret program is a database containing records of virtually every money transfer of more than $500 sent to, from, or within Arizona, California, New Mexico, Texas, or Mexico.

This practice advisory aims to: 1) explain what was involved in this bulk money transfer surveillance program; and 2) provide defense counsel with potential challenges to it.

With protections in place, body cameras have the potential to better document encounters between police officers and citizens while mitigating competing concerns about their potential for misuse or abuse.

In recent years, the government has increasingly turned to hacking as an investigative technique. Specifically, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”) has begun deploying malware: software designed to infiltrate and control, disable, or surveil a computer’s use and activity.

Race Data Matters: Using Expert Testimony and Social Science Data about Discriminatory Policing to Win Pretrial Motions: Part I presented by Rahsaan D. Hall, Director, Racial Justice Program, American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts

Race Matters I: The Impact of Race on Criminal Justice
September 14-15, 2017 | Detroit, MI

Race Data Matters: Using Expert Testimony and Social Science Data about Discriminatory Policing to Win Pretrial Motions: Part II presented by Alison Siegler, Clinical Law Professor, University of Chicago Law School

Race Matters I: The Impact of Race on Criminal Justice
September 14-15, 2017 | Detroit, MI