Federal Court Rules Seizure of 2003 MLB Drug Tests was Illegal.
Seizure of 2003 MLB Drug Tests was Illegal.
The Feds had no right to seize the entire 104 drug test results conducted on random MLB players in 2003. Or at least that was the decision of a California court ruling that the Federal seizure of the drug test results of more than 90 MLB players was indeed an illegal act.
In issuing the decision the federal appeals court called for new guidelines for computer searches of all kinds that may give investigators access to information about people who are not named in a search warrant but whose private and personal information may be contained on a database that is being searched.
In relation to the 2003 test results, federal investigators held a warrant that named 10 specific MLB players and that warrant allowed them access to those players’ drug test results. However investigators actually ended up taking the results of all 104 players who were randomly tested by baseball authorities.
As a reaction the baseball players union sued for the return of the unauthorized reports, but investigators argued that they had been quite entitled to take all the records as they were “in plain sight” as they searched for the specific 10 player’s results.
But according to the appeal court judges setting such a standard for computer standards would be setting a dangerous precedent for millions of people’s privacy and would be a violation of the Constitutional Fourth Amendment.
In the decision judges wrote “Seizure of, for example, Google’s e-mail servers to look for a few incriminating messages could jeopardize the privacy of millions.” The judgment also noted that “some players appear to have already suffered this very harm as a result of the government’s seizure.”
This portion of the judgment refers to damning media coverage published this summer by media outlets quoting “lawyers with knowledge of the testing results” that stated that Sammy Sosa, Manny Ramirez, David Ortiz and Alex Rodriguez all tested positive during those 2003 tests.
For his part Rodriguez has publically acknowledged that at that time he did indeed take a “banned substance” between the years of 2001 -2003 but other accused players have denied the allegations. Manny Ramirez’ denials however became a little less credible after he was handed a 50 game suspension for failing a drug test during the current season.
In 2003 drug testing in the sport was not yet mandatory as the ban on certain steroids and other substances was not yet in effect. The tests were conducted as part of an agreement between the MLB and players unions to determine the scale of the drug problem in the Major Leagues.
