"The United States of America v. Adam Vaughn was a case about a stand-up Marine, a beloved cop, and a local hero — until the government branded him part of the largest kid porn ring in history." So began reporter Steve Silberman in Wired Magazine in October, 2002 about the FBI's Operation Candyman crusade. We reported on the case and Silberman's article here.

The evidence has now been thrown out, with two federal judges saying the FBI recklessly misled them in affidavits for search warrants.

Two federal judges have dealt a potentially crippling blow to a nationwide Internet child pornography crackdown, saying the FBI recklessly misled judges to get search warrants that were used in making more than 100 arrests." "Constitutional safeguards cannot be relaxed just because ``the crimes are repugnant,'' said U.S. District Judge Denny Chin in New York as he dismissed evidence obtained against one defendant. Chin's ruling, dated Wednesday, was released publicly Thursday."

To our knowledge, Silberman was the only reporter to raise these issues. His article is definitely worth re-reading, along with the courts' opinions.