To obtain a search warrant or arrest warrant, the law enforcement officer must demonstrate probable cause that a search or seizure is justified. An authority, usually a magistrate, will consider the totality of circumstances and determine whether to issue the warrant. [1]

I agree to your statement, if there is no search warrant. But in this case an authority already decided that the search is justified. What use are search warrants then if they can all be refused?

I understand, that even a magistrate or whatever can make errors. But if this happens a lot, the consequence will be, that search warrants are issued without second thought and the person/company affected by the search should always deny it first.

I'm all for privacy and defending individual rights, but cases like this make a farce out of court orders and the whole jurisdictional process.

[1] https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/fourth_amendment

I think you'll find the vast majority of search warrants aren't even read by the judge signing them. When I owned a (hosting) company it was blatantly obvious reading them, and we had a policy of challenging them when possible.

The whole search warrant/subpoena process is a joke. There is essentially no oversight on law enforcement whatsoever here and the whole trope of "but a judge reviewed it!" is a complete and utter outright lie in many cases.

It seems fairly likely that jurisdiction is what Amazon ended up challenging.

Very much agree, because there's a difference between being "innocent" and actually innocent. Only the former matters, it's subjective (jury/judge) and unknown to everyone but you, ex ante.

Sometimes the police are more invested in finding a criminal rather than the criminal.

I also believe that Amazon could provide that data alone. So what makes them refuse?

Contrary to what others on this thread are saying, no. You cannot deny them entry. At that point, in that situation, the police are authorized to use force to exercise that warrant and you have no recourse but to cooperate. I don't know where people get this silly idea that they can refuse. That's how you turn a peaceful affair into police busting down the door, legally shooting your alarmed dog, wrestling you into handcuffs, and executing the warrant by force. I wouldn't be surprised if your refusal to cooperate would be admissible as evidence of mens rea. Don't be stupid.

The kind of warrant that Amazon is contesting is different than the kind that police show up at your door with. They could get one of those for Amazon too: a warrant to enter Amazon's buildings and seize servers, hard drives, papers, etc. If Amazon itself, or its employees, was suspected of criminal wrongdoing, and being investigated by a police force with physical jurisdiction over the locations to be searched, that would happen. Businesses are searched this way all the time.

Yes, if your legal team denies it as overly broad. They can also file an injunction. This is why you call a lawyer as soon as the police arrive w/ a warrant or ask you questions.

> Does it make sense if I have nothing to hide?

Yes. Because you value your privacy of hobbies and speech.

> I have nothing to hide.

The average person breaks 3 laws a day. Whether that's speeding, texting while driving, having your friend over who left a dirty sock that smells like marijuana over. The police are "rewarded" when they find evidence of any crime, not just the one you are accused of.

Not a great example of having nothing to hide, but a great example of a broad search that found an entirely different crime. Survivor contestant, Michael Skupin, was having financial documents searched by police when they found kiddie porn was sentenced yesterday.

Pragmatic question regarding this type of advice. It's easy to say "call a lawyer", sure, but like many Americans under age 35, I do not presently have a lawyer in a meaningful sense of the term. (I had one once, for a very specific matter regarding a visa for another country - it was four-figure expensive - that relationship is now over.)

Suppose the police show up at my door in half an hour. What do I actually do? Or, suppose that they're not showing up in half an hour but I'd like to be generally prepared. What steps can I take to do so while keeping the up-front pre-police-raid 'expensive' in the low to middle three figure sums, or thereabouts?

2.) In a real pinch, call your local public defender. They likely will not be able to get someone out to your place ASAP but they may be able to offer some advice. You can always follow-up with private counsel later.

The other alternative is LegalShield and such services.

So this only applies to businesses and wealthy individuals? If this is the case, we already lost the fight for equal rights.

Yes. Because you value your privacy of hobbies and speech.

This is a murder case. How could someone value their hobbies and freedom above the jurisdictional process?

Not a great example of having nothing to hide, but a great example of a broad search that found an entirely different crime.

They do not have to fish for a crime. The crime is given, but the circumstances are probably not.

I just have the feeling, that refusing to provide the data to solve cases like this will probably hurt everyone more in the long run. If the police cannot get the data this way, they will probably try another way or change the law.

(I know it's better to provide references to web pages and not books, but I don't have a web page that recreates that book on hand. Suggestions welcome.)

As I understand it, it's an estimate, not an actual figure. In order to perform such a survey, we'd have to sample people, record their entire daily activity, and determine how many crimes were committed. Determining how many crimes were committed would require an army of lawyers and private investigators... and that's the real point. As a normal citizen without an army of lawyers, you should have no confidence whatsoever that you are not committing crimes. If measured by "what could be used to convict you if the government wanted you out of the way" I'd guess 3 per day is a grotesque underestimate, at least one order of magnitude and I wouldn't bet much against 2.

Well, if you live in Seattle and the police are from Arkansas, yeah. They can ask, just like i could ask to search your house. Out of the state that grants them authority, they're just guys with a piece of paper.

Why don't you take the advice from someone who knows what he is talking about. If you're in on a hurry make sure you see part two:

Part one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v= interrogation (Mr. James Duane, a professor at Regent Law School and a former defence attorney)

Part two: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08fZQWjDVKE (Mr. George Bruch police officer, years of experienced in suspect interviews for the police and US navy.)