Case Dismissed

SCOTUS Finds Cop Didn’t Violate Federal Law With Improper Database Search

The court’s 6-3 opinion, written by Amy Coney Barrett, said the officer’s clearance kept him from being charged under a computer crime law.

In a 6-3 opinion Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that an Atlanta police officer didn’t violate a federal computer crime law when improperly accessing a license plate database, CNN reports. The case involved Nathan Van Buren, an Atlanta police officer who was paid by an FBI informant to search the state database for unofficial purposes. But while he did break the department’s policy, Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote in the majority opinion that because Van Buren had “authorized access” to the database, he should not be charged under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. She said the statute “does not cover those who, like Van Buren, have improper motives for obtaining information that is otherwise available to them.”