The Colorado Supreme Court announced a decision on Monday in Tattered Cover, Inc. v. City of Thornton. Relying on both the Colorado and United States Constitution, the court determined that a police search warrant for the book-buying records of a criminal suspect was unreasonable. The Court held that the information sought by the search warrant implicated a fundamental right protected by the state and federal constitutions, that is, the "fundamental right to purchase books anonymously, free from governmental interference." [Id. at 2.]

In deciding whether this fundamental right was unfairly abridged, the Colorado Supreme Court applied this balancing test:

We hold that the Colorado Constitution requires that the innocent bookseller be afforded an opportunity for an adversarial hearing prior to execution of a search warrant seeking customer purchase records. At that hearing, the court must apply a balancing test to determine whether the law enforcement need for the search warrant outweighs the harm to constitutional interests caused by its execution. In order for law enforcement officials to prevail, they must demonstrate a compelling governmental need for the specific customer purchase records that they seek. When conducting the balancing test, the court may consider whether there are reasonable alternative methods of meeting the government's asserted need, whether the search warrant is unduly broad, and whether law enforcement officials seek the purchase records for reasons related to the content of the books bought by any particular customer.

Importantly, the decision recognizes the right of an innocent information provider to be afforded an adversarial hearing prior to the execution of a search warrant that seeks to obtain book-buying records.

9:33:44 AM