Professor Kerr Works on Auernheimer Appeal

A federal appeals court overturned the conviction of prominent computer hacker Andrew Auernheimer, who was imprisoned in 2012 after obtaining the e-mail addresses of approximately 120,000 iPad users from AT&T's website. The court ruled that the government violated Auernheimer's rights by trying him in New Jersey despite his lack of connection to the state, but did not resolve a broader legal debate about the application of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. Orin Kerr, Fred C. Stevenson Research Professor of Law, worked pro bono on Auernheimer's appeal and called the ruling an important result. "Venue sounds like a technicality, but it’s really an important technicality."