The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a judge must narrow an order requiring LinkedIn to disclose journalists' communications for a leak investigation.^[1] The three-judge panel found the Justice Department's request for records substantially overbroad.^[2] The opinion was unanimous.^[3] Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson wrote it.^[4] What the government asked for The Justice Department sought 18 months of metadata on the journalists' LinkedIn chat contacts.^[5] The original order covered 18 months of the targeted journalists' activity on the site.^[6] The case comes out of a national security leak investigation by the Trump administration.^[7] LinkedIn challenged the secrecy order attached to the request.^[8] What the court did not do The panel did not throw the order out. It rejected LinkedIn's request to cancel the district court's disclosure order in full.^[9] That is the limit of the ruling. One report described it as barring the administration from the records.^[10] The court's instruction is narrower than that: the district court must cut down the set of records the department may have.^[11] What comes next The case goes back to Judge Elizabeth Hanes, who must narrow the order.^[12] How much of the 18 months survives is her decision.