It is obvious you have never worked in an investigative agency or really understand the politics involved.

First, this is a case that is being brought by the federal government. A high profile case. This means that the political stakes are very high, which can play a huge role in the prosecution of this case. So let's put things in order, shall we?

As a federal case in the Western District of New York, this falls under the prosecutorial purview of the United States Attorney's Office. Currently, that would be William Hochul and his deputies. For those unaware, the USA is an appointed post by the President. In a little over a week, this man is going to know if he has a job or not since his position is tied to Obama's success or failure. Contrary to popular opinion, many of the higher level government officials are pretty smart cookies. They know how to take an opportunity and they know how to position themselves. Having one of the highest profile civil cases taking place in your district with one of the highest profile companies on the planet is like a gift from above. Don't piss off Facebook and there might be a nice position with them either directly or indirectly through the big law firm you'll become a partner with after you leave the USA's office.

This up's the stakes. Now, the deputy in charge of the criminal prosecution division will be getting pressure from his boss to look into this Ceglia guy. After all he's a bad apple having previously been charged by Andrew Cuomo when he was the AG of NY. So the criminal prosecutor tells the Special Agent in Charge of the local FBI office in Buffalo to look into this. A case agent is assigned, along with the other bundle of cases already assigned to him or her, which could be anywhere from 10 to 40 in various stages of closure. So the case agent makes a couple calls to obtain the evidence, in this case the hard drive images and other bits and pieces, which are probably in the safe keeping of Facebook's attorneys, Ceglia's attorney's, or both. They may even do a warrant for new evidence.

All the computer evidence will get shipped off to the FBI computer lab, which in this case would be the regional computer forensics lab in Buffalo. There, a multi-agency task force works that sifts through submitted computer evidence for forensic artifacts and puts together a report on their findings. And that's exactly what they will do. The Ceglia case will get put into the queue among the cases dealing with child exploitation, terrorism, homicide, etc, and will be given a schedule for completion of somewhere around 6 - 15 months, since after all, this is just a fraud case. But with a little prompting from some highly placed prosecutors, the case will be fast tracked for completion in probably 30 days or less.

So, with the information back from the lab, the FBI agent now compiles the data, meets with the prosecutors and decides options. Do they have enough to go on? Do they need to dismiss the case? Can they bring it to the grand jury? Do they need more? Is the game plan to really bring this to trial or is it to force a plea or to simply destroy credibility?

Sometimes, in a high profile case, a perp-walk is more than enough to satisfy political goals. Ceglia was arrested and the Slashdot hivemind has already convicted him and believed 100% all the claims of the prosecution. Send him to jail now - no need for a trial or to have the evidence reviewed by a forensic examiner on the defense side. The perp-walk worked again. It's more than enough to let the USA be known as a friend of facebook in the event this election doesn't go down the way he would like.

But what about everyone else? The criminal prosecutors? They are career prosecutors so regardless of the administration, they will have a federal job until they decide to retire. The FBI agent(s)? They aren't in much danger of layoff. They will simply keep marching along until their next case comes up or until they rotate to a different duty station or have to go to HQ. The RCFL plugs along with their case load.

In the end, the only person that really has a stake outside of their federal employement is the USA, simply because his boss may or may not win the election. But, William Hochul worked for many years as a federal prosecutor doing some very high profile cases. I personally can't see him losing his integrity now over something like this, since his post political career will no doubt be very secure regardless. Is there political pressure on this case? Absolutely, the whole thing reeks of it. I have no idea where it's coming from though. Probably someone placed high enough in the administration to put pressure on a USA.

Is justice not being served while working on this case? Of course since there is a scarcity of resources. But then again, most tiny crimes won't ever get the attention of a federal prosecutor. Unless there's a news-worthy sum, it just won't. It may get the attention of a state level agency, but the feds have a price for entry.

Don't underestimate the deliberate nature of Cuomo's actions. He is acutely aware of technology, what it is, and how it can be used. He has a lot of good advisers who are technologically aware. He also knows a lot of the dangers posed by email and what it can do.

During his time as Attorney General, he learned very quickly how crucial email was to a case. I don't specifically have to name cases, but a reader can easily find landmark investigations he conducted that hinged on getting email, mining it using some very sophisticated tools, and finding the right evidence.

I'm sure as he conducts himself and his staff now, mis-steps are keenly in his mind. This is a man who is not satisfied as Governor and will run for President.

Obviously you haven't read the 1st amendment closely:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

Note the comma and the conjunction "and". The right to assemble is not exclusively linked as being for the purpose of redress of grievances.

The constitution as a whole does not grant or give any right. The constitution is a document that defines the duties of the government and explicitly defines limits on certain rights for the government. "Congress shall make no law..." defines a limit on the rights of the congress. The courts have upheld the rights of association and assembly for centuries. Restraining orders can be enforced and are constitutional because not all parties to the assembly are in agreement. Someone doesn't want someone else there or they pose a danger to the other person, therefore they can be explicitly barred from being there. Liberty is a concept that states you have the right to do what you want, but your rights end when it interferes with my rights and vice versa. Nothing inconsistent there at all.

Felons lose many of their rights both during incarceration and after. Free association is one of the rights. Sex offenders are no different and restricting their activities and associations are constitutional.

CALEA is not a log retention act. It's a regulation that says device manufacturers need to allow the means for law enforcement to access it. It can also extend to networks and configurations - such as in the case of the phone companies.

However, one of the big impediments to law enforcement investigations of legitimate criminal activity has been the lack of log retention. Depending on the ISP, you may get anywhere from a few weeks to a few hours. There is no uniformity. However, there have been bills introduced at the federal level to require mandatory log retention but the bills have stalled in committee.

Yes, government can obtain certain pieces of data without a warrant. Generally, these fall under the allowances granted by the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA). Usually, the rules are non-recent user content to summarize. Account information, IP addresses, headers, etc. are all fair game. Stored email older than 180 days is also fair game. New email or other private data needs a warrant. Although exceptions exist.

Although it doesn't seem like it - there are actually rules in place.

I'm glad to see work being done on on-place upgrades rather than the current dump and reload.

(First Post?!?)