Notice for E-Mail Warrants and the James Rosen Case

This morning, however, the Drudge Report has a top-left link to Breitbart’s coverage by Larry O’Connor suggesting that something nefarious is afoot. The Breitbart story says that the DOj went “judge shopping” and that “the effort by the Justice Department to obtain the controversial court order was arduous, contentious, and unsuccessful until finally a third judge acquiesced.” It concludes:

The revelation that two courts denied the secret subpoena before Lamberth finally agreed will damage the narrative that there was nothing extraordinary or out-of-bounds about Holder’s attempt to delve into the private communications of Rosen and his employer.

Putting aside the minor errors in this sentence — it was a warrant not a subpoena, for example — I think it’s important to realize that the magistrate judges were pretty clearly wrong in their interpretation of the law.

http://www.volokh.com/2013/05/28/notice-for-e-mail-warrants-and-the-james-rosen-case/