Surveillance Law Seminar

This seminar course will expose students to laws and policies relating to government surveillance, from traditional criminal wiretaps to high tech surveillance conducted as part of the global war on terrorism. The course will involve a survey of the Fourth Amendment’s search and seizure case law and the application of that body of law to government surveillance efforts. Issues discussed will include: wiretaps in drug and organized crime cases; warrantless surveillance programs in the ’60-‘70s; legislative efforts to constrain surveillance; the expansion of government surveillance following the attacks of 9/11; and the implications of new surveillance technologies in an increasingly cyber- and technology-oriented world.