60 lines
2.4 KiB
Plaintext
60 lines
2.4 KiB
Plaintext
From _The Press-Enterprise_ Saturday, Feb 24, 1990
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(Posted by Alcor member Keith Henson without permission)
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ALCOR FILES SUIT OVER ELECTRONIC MAIL SEIZURE
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By David Bloom, The Press-Enterprise
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Another legal battle has erupted between Alcor Life Extension
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Foundation and the law, this time with a federal lawsuit filed by
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Alcor over the seizure more than two years ago of computerized
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"electronic mail" during a search of the group`s Riverside
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headquarters.
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Alcor members pay up to $100,000 for the privilege of have their
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bodies put in cryonic suspension, frozen at temperatures hundreds of
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degrees below zero, after their death. The members hope developing
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medical technology will one day enable the to be revived and cured.
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The group ran afoul of local law enforcement officials, however,
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after the cryonic suspension of the head of Dora Kent in December
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1987.
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The Riverside County coroner's Office accused Alcor members of
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hastening along Kent's death with a lethal dose of barbiturates in
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preparation for freezing. The group has denied the accusation, saying
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the provided only "care and comfort" to the 83 year-old Kent in her
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last two days.
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Law enforcement officers raided the Alcor headquarters on
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Riverside's southwest edge in January 1988, searching for computer
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equipment, software and related material, and for Kent's body parts,
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and any illegal drugs.
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They found the equipment, but not Kent, whose head had been
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secreted away, or any illegal drugs.
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The most recent lawsuit was filed last month in U.S. District court
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in Los Angeles. It accuses a dozen Riverside City and County law
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enforcement officials of violating the Electronic Communication
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Privacy Act of 1986.
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The suit says police illegally seized the electronic mail of 14
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Alcor members when it seized the computer equipment. A copy of the
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search warrant included as an exhibit in the suit does not mention
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electronic mail.
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The suit asked for at least $10,000 for each of the alcor member who
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filed the suit. Most to the same members filed a claim against the
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city 11 months ago, but the city allowed the claim to expire without
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response after 45 days, said attorney John Porter, who is
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representing the city and two policemen named in the suit.
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"This lawsuit was filed in federal court," Porter said. "It
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should have been filed the Twilight Zone."
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The attorney for Alcor could not be reach for comment late
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yesterday.
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