It's Not Easy Being Greenwald's Partner

No Miranda rights here

Some disturbing news out of London's Heathrow Airport today. The partner of a Glenn Greenwald, the Guardian journalist who wrote stories exposing mass U.S. surveillance programs, was held by the police for nine hours under the Terrorism Act

The Telegraph reports:

David Miranda was passing through London's Heathrow Airport today on his way home to Rio de Janeiro. 

Mr Miranda, who lives with the reporter Glenn Greenwald, the journalist who interviewed American whistleblower Edward Snowden, was stopped at 8 a.m. returning from a trip to Berlin.  

The Guardian reported that Mr Miranda was questioned under schedule seven of the Terrorism Act 2000, which applies only at airports, ports and border areas, allowing officers to stop, search, question and detain individuals.

The 28-year-old was held for nine hours -- the maximum the law allows before officers must release or formally arrest the individual -- before being released without charge.
But the newspaper reported his electronic possessions including his mobile phone, laptop, camera, memory sticks, DVDs and games consoles were confiscated.

Greenwald later told The New York Times:

“What’s amazing is this law, called the Terrorism Act, gives them a right to detain and question you about your activities with a terrorist organization or your possible involvement in or knowledge of a terrorism plot,” Mr. Greenwald said. “The only thing they were interested in was N.S.A. documents and what I was doing with Laura Poitras. It’s a total abuse of the law.” He added: “This is obviously a serious, radical escalation of what they are doing. He is my partner. He is not even a journalist.”