Some weeks ago I wrote about how der Schutzstaffel...excuse me, the Department of Homeland Security...had decided that the 4th Amendment doesn't apply anymore...at least not to them. They've implemented a policy that allows them to confiscate laptops and other electronic devices at border crossings and retain physical possession of said devices "for a reasonable period of time", which, of course, is defined by them. Here's the kicker: they will do so "without any suspicion of wrongdoing" on the part of the laptop owner! And they intend to "share the contents" of the devices with "other agencies and private entities"!
Did I miss something? Didn't we fight a war against the original King George for much less than this?
Which part of this text indicates that der Schutzstaffel has this authority?
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.At the time I first wrote about this I lauded Senators Patrick Leahy and Russ Feingold for their efforts to combat this affront to both decency as well as the Constitution. Senator Feingold fights on against this policy...and DHS continues to defend it.
"They're saying they can rifle through all the information in a traveler's laptop without having a smidgen of evidence that the traveler is breaking the law," said Greg Nojeim, senior counsel at the Center for Democracy and Technology. Notably, he said, the policies "don't establish any criteria for whose computer can be searched."They found contraband. Whoopty-doo.
Customs Deputy Commissioner Jayson P. Ahern said the efforts "do not infringe on Americans' privacy." In a statement submitted to Feingold for a June hearing on the issue, he noted that the executive branch has long had "plenary authority to conduct routine searches and seizures at the border without probable cause or a warrant" to prevent drugs and other contraband from entering the country.
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff wrote in an opinion piece published last month in USA Today that "the most dangerous contraband is often contained in laptop computers or other electronic devices." Searches have uncovered "violent jihadist materials" as well as images of child pornography, he wrote.
Michael Chertoff shouldn't be the head of DHS. Michael Chertoff should be in a Federal prison. The whole point of the 4th Amendment was to prevent just this sort of governmental intrusion into the lives of American citizens. But to Chertoff and other collectivists like him, the individual doesn't matter. Only der Staat matters.
