The American Civil Liberties Union of Idaho hosted a discussion on civil rights and privacy in the age of social media for students in the University of Idaho Menard College of Law courtroom Monday.
The discussion focused on what the ACLU does, how to protect online privacy, the limits of free speech and how to interact with law enforcement in a way that preserves individual rights.
Lt. Paul Kwiatkowski of the Moscow Police Department hosted a question and answer session. Kwiatkowski stressed the importance of knowing your rights when interacting with law enforcement.
“When it comes to knowing your rights, you know it’s like I tell my kids, don’t trust cops,” Kwiatkowski said.
Kwiatkowski provided the example of a noise complaint — a common issue in Moscow — when interacting with the cops. He said the best way to handle the MPD at your door in this case is to answer the door and be polite.
“The officer will ask for your ID to take down some contact information and will probably give you a warning,” Kwiatkowski said. “Turn down the music or we’ll come back to break up the party and issue citations.”
He said an officer may ask to come inside, and that while it is well within your rights to say “no,” if you consent he can search while he is in there. Anything in plain sight is fair game. He said if you tell an officer he cannot come inside but the officer suspects there is illegal activity, and he can articulate it clearly in a probable cause affidavit, the officer will apply for a warrant.
“It’s a three-hour process in Moscow to get a warrant, if I have to get a warrant I will keep you outside and we’ll talk while that process is going on,” Kwiatkowski said.
Kwiatkowski said the MPD will rarely try to obtain a warrant simply based on smell, for instance the smell of marijuana smoke, because it is a shaky basis for investigation.
“If a judge issues a smell warrant and there ends up being nothing there you will lose credibility with that judge, and that is usually not a chance we take,” Kwiatkowski said. “But if there is smoke as well and I can clearly articulate that in an affidavit we will try to get a warrant.”
Kwiatkowski said the most important thing to remember when dealing with law enforcement is to know your rights, and if you have a complaint with how an officer treated you, get his name and badge number and file the complaint with the department. He said if you are cited or arrested and you believe the officer violated your rights you should take it to court. He said if you asserted your rights during the interaction your case becomes a lot stronger, but if you consent to a search without a warrant you are less likely to win.
Kwiatkowski also said it is important for interactions with police officers to be conducted with mutual respect.
“I don’t think the cops in Moscow — I can only speak to Moscow — they are not aggressive,” Kwiatkowski said. “I think it all comes down to the delivery and how you treat people. When we hire officers that’s what we look for. How will you treat people? That’s really important for us at MPD — that we treat people with the dignity and respect that they deserve.”
The ACLU of Idaho presentation began by stating what the ACLU does. Program Coordinator Kathy Griesmyer headed the discussion. Griesmyer said the ACLU of Idaho was founded in 1993 and that the ACLU as a whole is a three branch organization.
“We are split into three focuses to protect civil liberties: litigation, lobbying and education,” Griesmyer said.
Griesmyer mentioned ACLU of Idaho’s involvement in lobbying to stop mandatory transvaginal ultrasounds for women seeking abortions, educating voters on the new voter ID laws during the election and litigation efforts for Occupy Boise when lawmakers changed laws retroactively to stop the protests.
“After the changes to the protest laws, protesters could still bring guns, but not signs,” Griesmyer said.
Griesmyer also mentioned the outdated Electronic Communications Privacy Act, which hasn’t been updated since 1986. She said technology has changed rapidly and the law doesn’t offer protections addressing those advancements, for example law enforcement doesn’t need a warrant to search online email services like Gmail.
According to data from Google’s bi-annual transparency report, there were 42,327 user data requests in 2012, up from 34,001 the year before. User data requests are usually filed by law enforcement to aid investigations. She also said individuals need to be diligent with their social media privacy settings because they can change as the sites roll out updates. Professor of Constitutional Law Shaakirrah Sanders also spoke about free speech rights at the event. She said First Amendment rights are not absolute in all cases — often schools can limit them to preserve the educational environment.
Griesmyer summarized the night’s event in three statements.
“Check your online privacy settings regularly, recognize that schools can limit free speech to preserve the learning environment, and when it comes to law enforcement just know your rights and assert them,” Griesmyer said.
Andrew Deskins can be reached at [email protected]