The FBI Had No Warrant for the Raid on Instapaper, Pinboard, et al.

Justice must not only be done; justice must be seen to be done.

If an FOIA request does not retrieve a warrant, there was no warrant for the purposes of public justice, even if there was a warrant. I hope that sentence was clear.

I wouldn't hold my breath. Their records system is terrible, in the sense of being woefully under-resourced and their software is out of date. For a recent case like this, it's highly likely that it has not yet been processed into their central records system. As a first step, I'd say go to the FOIA page on their website and look at the current backlogs. I haven't followed this episode closely, but I'd say the chances that they just steamrollered their way in without a warrant are quite low.

There's no such thing (legally) as a warrant under court seal. If there is no warrant presented, and no warrant that can be gotten simply upon request by the searched party, then this was a warrantless search.

If it was a warrantless search, it was a crime, and every participant engaged in a felony (presuming they were armed.) US Code 18-242 makes it a felony to violate constitutional rights under color of law (while armed. If unarmed I think it is not a felony, a lower penalty applies.)

If the constitution is the highest law of the land then no subordinate organization (namely congress) can make a law that violates the constitution. Congress was authorized to make laws, and the government was given limited, enumerated powers in the enumerated powers section. If a particular law is not under and enumerated power, or involution of the constitution, it is never a valid law. The moment it is signed, it is null and void-- according the the supreme court in Mabury v. Madison.

Thus, a law authorizing a "court seal" for warrants, which violates the fourth ammendement, even if it exists, is null and void, and does not need to be struck down by any court to be null and void.

Without this law, without any presented warrant, the search is thus illegal, and every participant is a felon (if they were armed.)

I say all this to point out, just how far from obeying the law our government is.

Of course, it is absurd to expect that any prosecutor in the justice department will bring any of these people up on charges (presuming that an investigation reveals the facts to be as supposed in the context of this discussion.)

Since the government is not operating within the bounds of the law, the government doesn't have the protection of the law, and the government is, itself, a criminal organization (to the extend that the previous two clauses are true.)

Denial of this-- which is not really an opinion so much as legal fact-- is why americans are constantly surprised when things get worse and worse. (For instance: The TSA is not valid under the law, all of their searches are illegal. But nothing was done about them, so now they are molesting children in public.)

Things are going to get much worse until people start standing up to the government.

Why will you lawyer up? I'll be cheering you on, but to what end?

Here's a guide to FOIA requests from the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.

You don't need a lawyer to file a FOIA request, there's even a handy letter generator tool linked to from that page.

The FBI response letter is linked here and seems to list a specific Reston, VA address: http://f.cl.ly/items/2t13422O1n441b1R2F3E/Instapaper%20Raid%...

There is another FOIA request still outstanding here: http://www.muckrock.com/foi/view/united-states-of-america/wa...

I am curious to see the results of that second request, which is more broadly worded.

Most Americans would tell you that prison rape is 'part of the punishment'. They support foreign wars on the barest of pretenses. They absolutely love state power. What did you expect?

Maybe they didn't care whether it went to the court or not? Maybe the aim was to scare the bejesus out of the victims, and they achieved that goal?

Anyone else remember the Steve Jackson Games episode? http://www.sjgames.com/SS/

Judges issue sealed warrants. My understanding is that an FOIPA request would acknowledge the existence of a sealed warrant and affidavit after they're executed though, unless they're part of a multi-part warrant. Search warrants expire in a matter of days. Since some or all of the hardware seems to have been returned, there's no reason for it not to show up in a properly worded FOIPA request.

This is why no one is suing the FBI:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sovereign_immunity

You can't generally sue them unless they physically maim or kill you. Government privilege.

Yes, some gag orders last 90 days for certain felonies...namely computer break-ins..ie hacking ..do not know about the other ones...