United States v. Trotter
United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
478 F.3d 918 (2007)
- Written by Kelli Lanski, JD
Facts
John Larkin Trotter (defendant) was fired from his job at the Salvation Army. Afterwards, Trotter was caught deleting computer files, adding files with obscene language, and otherwise tinkering with the Salvation Army’s computer network. Trotter pled guilty to computer sabotage in violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA). The CFAA covered conduct relating to protected computers, meaning computers used in interstate or foreign commerce or communication. As part of his plea, Trotter conceded that the Salvation Army’s computers were connected to the internet and communicated with computers in other states. Trotter reserved the right to challenge the constitutionality of the CFAA as applied to his conduct and appealed on that ground. Trotter argued that the definition of protected computers was unconstitutionally broad because any computer connected to the internet could be covered by the interstate-communication requirement.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Per curiam)
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