Law Commons^™

Reforming Surveillance Law: The Swiss Model, Susan Freiwald, Sylvain Metille

Susan Freiwald

Reforming Surveillance Law: The Swiss Model

Susan Freiwald & Sylvain Métille

As implemented over the past twenty-six years, the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA), which regulates electronic surveillance by law enforcement agents, has become incomplete, confusing, and ineffective. In contrast, a new Swiss law (CrimPC) regulates law enforcement surveillance in a more comprehensive, uniform, and effective manner. This article compares the two approaches and argues that recent proposals to reform EPCA in a piecemeal fashion will not suffice. Instead, the Swiss CrimPC law presents a model for more fundamental reform of U.S. law.

This article is the first to analyze …

Mexico's Crisis: When There's A Will, There's A Way, Melanie M. Reid

Melanie M. Reid

The United States under the Obama administration is committed to many of the tools being advocated in Mexican President Felipe Calderón’s holistic approach to combat drug trafficking. This Article explores the United States’ Merida Initiative policy and critiques its effectiveness. The Beyond Merida Initiative announced in 2010 revamped the prior 2007 initiatives, and provided more emphasis on additional training rather than equipment or direct financial aid to Mexico. Neither initiative corrects problems endemic to Mexico which limits the possibility of success. Corruption, anti-American resentment, and a drastically different legal system in Mexico hinder our efforts to become an effective ally …