United States v. Place

The search for the Unabomber was one of the longest, most expensive criminal manhunts in the United States. Despite the massive amount of data collected by federal authorities and a million hours of work by federal agents, Theodore Kaczynski was found out not through the effort of law enforcement, but because his younger brother turned him in to authorities upon recognizing phrases of the Unabomber's 35,000 word anti-technology manifesto, which had been published in the Washington Post.

Kaczynski's nearly 18 year bombing spree resulted in three deaths, 29 injuries, and permanently heightened security by the U.S. Postal Service and airports. Many mailboxes now bear signs stating that mail over 16 ounces or parcels with stamps may not be placed in the mailbox, but must be mailed from a post office. Security at airports has been raised and passengers must show picture identification, walk through metal detectors, and have their luggage x-rayed. As the U.S. Secretary of Transportation Frederico Pena stated at a news conference in Los Angeles after the Unabomber threatened to blow up an airplane in June of 1995, "Because of the past history of this individual, we take this threat very seriously. All of us as Americans are beginning to understand we live in a changed society. We realize that our lives are going to be inconvenienced because of the changing nature of the world."