20 Years for Clearing Your Browser History? (2024)

In today's world, average people create and delete massive amounts of digital data every single day. And most of the time people can do so without expecting the Department of Justice to come knocking. But deleting digital data—including clearing browser history—can result in federal felony obstruction of justice charges under 18 U.S.C. § 1519, the federal anti-shredding statute, which carries a 20-year maximum penalty. It is thus vital that citizens understand what is and is not illegal under § 1519.

Unfortunately, understanding what the statute prohibits is a difficult task. Indeed, this Article will argue that § 1519 has a vagueness problem. That is, the statute arguably fails to provide a person of ordinary intelligence fair notice of what is prohibited and is so standardless that it authorizes or encourages seriously discriminatory enforcement.1 This Article brings attention to § 1519's vagueness problem and suggests possible solutions. Specifically, it recommends that the courts either impose a nexus requirement on § 1519 or limit enforcement to the corporate crime context.

Title 20 Years for Clearing Your Browser History?

Variant Title 20 Years for Clearing Your Browser History?

Date 2017-01

Content Type Article

Record Created 2019-11-26

Record ID 1127897

Published in Berkeley Journal of Criminal Law

Volume 22

Issue 1

Pages 1