Where Does Privacy Start and Stop?

By Tim Grubbs
July 19, 2008
Law

In an interesting article out of Randolph, Vermont, a local librarian is being hailed as acting appropriately by refusing to allow police officers to confiscate the public library’s computers without a warrant - even though they were investigating the disappearance of a 12-year old girl, Brooke Bennett, who was later found dead.

Although a law just enacted July 1st in Vermont requires libraries to require a court order to allow searches like this, it raises some serious questions:

Are citizens afforded a reasonable expectation of privacy even from government agencies, when the services they use, such as public libraries, are themselves provided by government agencies?

Are other laws then in conflict when people, including government officials, cannot be afforded a reasonable expectation of privacy from being photographed when moving about in public places?

Do privacy laws even matter anymore with respect to the government, after the recent passage of the 2008 FISA Amendment?