Dean D. Pregerson

In an age marked by controversies over Guantanamo Bay and elsewhere, and warrantless wiretapping programs at home, Pregerson made bold decisions limiting the power of government in the past year. He declared conditions at Los Angeles County's Men's Central Jail inhumane, called for speedy reforms and extended an order limiting the number of inmates that can be held in cells. Pregerson also ruled the government cannot conduct a border search of a traveler's computer or other electronic storage device without Fourth Amendment review when he discarded evidence obtained during such a search.