Jim Bell warrant, affidavit, return

[Greg Broiles <gbroiles@c2.net>]

This is the way to get copies of court filings in far-away places:

Call the court. Tell the person who answers the phone that you want to get
a copy of pleadings (or whatever it is you want a copy of) filed in a
particular case, giving them as much information as you have about the
case. When you're looking for a search warrant, that information will
usually be the address of the property searched and the date/time that the
search began. In other cases, it's the case number/file number, (or, more
annoying for the clerk, the name of the plaintiff and/or defendant). 

If the clerk can find the file based on the information you had, and the
contents aren't sealed, they'll give you the name/phone number of a
messenger service or copy service who will pick up copies from the court
and then FAX or mail them to you. They usually charge somewhere in the
neighborhood of $1 per page plus costs (like postage or phone) for this
service.

In Jim's case, the copy service's phone number is 206-383-1791. I received
FAX copies of the search warrant, supporting affidavit, and
return/inventory today. They're billing me for the charges incurred, which
I expect will be in the neighborhood of $25. I'm planning to scan them
tonight and make them available via the web, modulo personal information
which I will black out. 

Comments about a good way to balance public interest/privacy when making
the docs available are welcome. Have thought about publishing the documents
as images (not text) to foil indexing, about eliminating "personal" info like 
SS numbers, address, and serial number(s) of seized items. I think the text
of the affidavit is especially useful and instructive in terms of the
understanding it provides into the law enforcement view of
cpunks/anonymity/Internet issues. 

[Also received the Wassenaar Arrangement in response to my FOIA request,
along with the Secret Service's response ("no records") and a denial of my
appeal from the SF FBI office's "no records" response. Am planning to scan
those, too.]


--
Greg Broiles
gbroiles@c2.net
510-986-8779 voice
510-986-8777 fax