According To The Government, Clearing Your Browser History Is A Felony
from the obligated-to-hold-onto-everything-just-in-case-government-wants-to-see-it dept
The "do something" resulting from the Enron scandal was Sarbanes-Oxley.To date, the law has done very little to curb corporate fraud -- its
intended target. But it has become a handy tool for prosecutors looking
to stack charges against defendants far removed from the financial
world.
We've discussed this at length before. One of the stipulations of
Sarbanes-Oxley is the preservation of evidence. Failing to do so, or
purposefully destroying records, can result in felony criminal charges.
This, unfortunately, doesn't even have to be willful destruction.
The law forbids the destruction of evidence, regardless of personal
knowledge of ongoing investigations, or even if no investigation has
even commenced.
In a hypothetical posed recently (containing a real-world example), finding yourself in possession of child pornography poses a serious dilemma.
Possession is a crime, but so is destruction of evidence.
Sarbanes-Oxley demands the preservation of evidence in "foreseeable"
investigations, and child porn possession is one of those crimes no law
enforcement agency ignores.
This aspect of Sarbanes-Oxley is being used again, this time in relation to the Boston Marathon bombing.
A cab driver who was friends with the Tsarnaev brothers is now facing
multiple charges, including lying to investigators about his
relationship with the Tsarnaevs, as well as destruction of records under
Sarbanes-Oxley, the latter of which carries a 20-year prison sentence
of its own.
