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starroute

(12,977 posts)
6. It seems like this is going to be a grand jury investigation -- which is frankly terrifying
Sat Dec 31, 2011, 03:33 AM
Dec 2011
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2011/12/boston-subpoena-twitter/

ACLU attorney Peter Krupp, who is representing user @p0isan0n, filed a motion to quash the subpoena on First Amendment grounds. But Thursday, the ACLU seemed to be dealt a defeat when Suffolk Superior Court Judge Carol Ball issued an impoundment order after hearing the case mainly in chambers.

This barred anyone in the case from talking about the arguments on either side, or about why the motion to dismiss the subpoena was likely rejected. Impoundment is an extraordinary measure that can be requested by one side of a case, and is generally granted only in cases involving sensitive security issues, investigative issues, witness intimidation, or the possibility of the suspect running.

“I think none (of these reasons) are valid in this instance,” said Krupp.

For its part, the Boston Police told Boston local publication BostInno that the “Boston Police Department is investigating serious threats directed at department personnel. The department will not disclose the specific nature of the intelligence gathered relative to this matter.”


http://privacysos.org/node/417

Citing a representative of the court, the Boston Globe is reporting that the Suffolk County District Attorney's subpoena for Twitter account holder information related to Occupy Boston is "part of a pending grand jury investigation."

As we wrote here yesterday, Judge Carol Ball sealed the proceedings, including her ultimate ruling on whether the subpoena could go forward. That's to say, the public doesn't know whether Twitter will be forced to hand over the subscriber information of potentially hundreds of people who tweeted the #bostonPD and #doxcak3 hashtags, or mentioned Guido Fawkes, in addition to the two accounts subpoenaed, @p0isAn0n and @occupyboston (not the right account for Occupy Boston) and anyone "associated" with them.

But now we know, thanks to the Globe piece, that the judge did agree that the subpoena was part of an ongoing criminal investigation. Which investigation? We do not know. That's because the ADA told the judge in secret, without ACLUm lawyers present. In other words, @p0isAn0n and the other potential targets of the subpoena don't know what they are being investigated for.

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