“A bill to amend the Privacy Protection Act of 1980 to update and strengthen protections for newgathering records, and for other purposes.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section revises the exclusionary rule in the Privacy Protection Act of 1980 (PPA) by prohibiting the use, receipt in evidence, or dissemination of materials described in PPA sections 101(a) and (b)—work product materials and other documentary materials possessed for public dissemination that are searched for or seized in violation of the Act, and evidence derived therefrom—in any federal, state, or local investigation, trial, hearing, or proceeding (except in a civil action under PPA section 106(a)). (As background, the PPA generally bars government officers from searching for or seizing such journalistic materials in criminal investigations absent probable cause that the possessor committed the related offense or to prevent death or serious bodily injury.) It further authorizes any aggrieved person to move to suppress such materials or derivative evidence on grounds that (1) the materials were unlawfully searched for or seized, (2) the warrant was insufficient on its face under the Act, or (3) the search or seizure did not conform to the warrant; if granted, the materials and evidence are treated as obtained in violation of the Act.
This section strikes subsection (d) of section 106 of the Privacy Protection Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 2000aa-6)—which provides that exhaustion of administrative or other remedies is not required prior to bringing a civil action—and redesignates subsections (e) through (h) as subsections (d) through (g), respectively. (Thus, courts may now require persons aggrieved by unlawful government searches or seizures of journalistic work product materials or documentary materials to exhaust alternative remedies first.)
This section establishes warrant application and court review procedures for government searches or seizures of covered materials—work product materials and other documents held by persons with intent to disseminate them publicly (i.e., journalists' materials)—under exceptions in the Privacy Protection Act of 1980. (As background, the act generally prohibits such searches or seizures in criminal investigations except when there is probable cause that the possessor committed the related offense, excluding cases involving the materials themselves absent national security or child exploitation exceptions, or when immediate seizure is needed to prevent death or serious bodily injury.) Specifically, it requires (1) a warrant via Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure (or state equivalents) disclosing the exception's factual basis (including contradictory information), all investigation targets, and court findings that an exception applies and (for suspect-based exceptions) that prosecution is consistent with the First Amendment, plus protective limitations; (2) for emergency seizures to prevent death or injury, reasonable limits on scope, a post-seizure application within 48 hours disclosing seized materials and measures taken, and court review ordering return or destruction if unjustified or balancing measures if justified. (Thus, these procedures add judicial oversight to previously permissible executive actions under the exceptions.)
This section establishes, for purposes of subsections (a) and (b) of Section 101 of the Privacy Protection Act of 1980—which generally prohibit law enforcement searches and seizures of documentary materials possessed by persons preparing such materials for news dissemination—that a customer or subscriber is deemed to possess materials stored, held, or maintained on an electronic communication service (as defined in 18 U.S.C. 2510) or remote computing service (as defined in 18 U.S.C. 2711) by or on behalf of the customer or subscriber. (Thus, Privacy Protection Act protections extend to journalists' cloud-stored materials.)