Read more: http://www.dailybreeze.com/ci_9009312It may hold our financial records, innermost thoughts and pictures of our loved ones - but there's nothing private about a laptop computer at the nation's borders, a federal appeals court ruled Monday.
In a closely watched search-and-seizure case, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a lower court's decision to toss evidence of alleged child pornography found on a traveler's computer at Los Angeles International Airport.
Michael Timothy Arnold was a 44-year-old Orange County math teacher when he arrived July 17, 2005, at the LAX customs counter after a three-week trip in the Philippines.
Two U.S. Customs and Border Patrol officers turned on his laptop, clicked on a file and found a photo of two nude women, according to the opinion.
Arnold was detained and his computer and other equipment were searched. Numerous images of alleged child pornography were found.
Can you imagine your laptop now being searched at customs? Would you be embarrassed at what they find?