Another provision struck down was the so-called " sneak and peek " provisions of the Patriot Act . These were struck down after the FBI wrongfully used the provision to arrest Portland attorney Brandon Mayfield on suspicions that he had been involved in the 2004 Madrid train bombings . They had concluded this wrongly because they believed that they found his fingerprint on a bag of detonators found at the scene . Agents seized three hard drives and ten DNA samples preserved on cotton swabs , and took 335 photos of personal items . Mayfield then filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Government , contending that his rights were violated by his arrest and by the investigation against him , and that the sneak and peek provisions were unconstitutional . The Government was forced to apologise to Mayfield and his family , stating that " t he United States acknowledges that the investigation and arrest were deeply upsetting to Mr. Mayfield , to Mrs. Mayfield , and to their three young children , and the United States regrets that it mistakenly linked Mr. Mayfield to this terrorist attack . " However , Mayfield took it further and on September 26 , 2007 judge Ann Aiken found that the searches violated the provision of the United States Fourth Amendment that prohibits unreasonable searches . Thus the law was declared unconstitutional
2004 Madrid train bombings
2004 Madrid train bombings
History of the Patriot Act