Homeland Security Can Now Search Without Warrants
by Lewis DerkinsAugust 8th, 2008, 7:36 pm
In case you weren’t paying attention, the Department of Homeland Stupidity recently wiped its ass with the fourth amendment and threw it back in our collective faces.
Citizens’ personal electronic devices are now subject to search by Customs and Border Patrol personnel when you enter the country. This doesn’t mean you have to show the computer, it means that without suspecting you of a crime they can take it from you, turn it on, go through all of your files, and keep it for a “reasonable period of time” before returning it to you.
It’s funny they use the word “reasonable” – a similar word is also found in the amendment that DHS just castrated:
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.
I’d also like to point out that this amendment clearly states that probable cause is necessary – in other words, you have to be suspected of something. Notice that there also needs to be a clear description of the intent for the search and the things that the government is trying to seize – you can’t just go on a trolling expedition.
To anyone who reads this and thinks, “well, I’m sure they’ll be reasonable about this” – look no further than the TSA’s gross abuse of power and ask yourself why Customs Officers should be any different? And if you feel it’s still OK, ask yourself if you think police should be able to walk into your house whenever they want and rummage through your closets for no particular reason, because that’s pretty much the equivalent of this DHS policy.
Does anyone really feel safer because of this? How long until we allow these clowns to search emails or monitor the websites we visit in the interest of national security? They already do that somewhere - it’s called China.
The ninth circuit unanimously upheld this nonsense – reasoning that laptops are like luggage and could therefore be searched. Guess what – unless there is some reasonable suspicion on your luggage, that shouldn’t be subject to search either.
You don’t give up your rights as an American citizen when you leave the country. These kinds of searches are completely antithetical to the Constitution, and we’ll all be a lot better off when the Department of Homeland Stupidity goes the way of the dodo.
Posted in Government Workers, Laws, Security, Uncategorized Rage |
I think a little more research is required here, Mr Jefferson. There are several long-standing exceptions to the Fourth Amendment and they mostly deal with the impracticality of obtaining a warrant. Off the top of my head, 1)would be a search with implicit or implied consent 2) would be a search incident to a lawful arrest and 3) is the very broadly interpreted search pursuant to exigent circumstances (where the totality of the facts are that searching your laptop and then deciding the potential risk it poses to the public outweighs the inconvenience to you).
It’s a complicated world we’re living in, amigo; and no longer are our leaders prancing about in knickers, burning witches at the stake or buying slaves at auction. If you really think that someone at the airport is going to take away your laptop then I suggest you leave it at home. This is really nothing new. When you travel through an airport, you are kind of giving tacit approval to give up a little of your Fourth Amendment. The inconvenience of the few for the betterment of the many. Almost sounds like something Benjamin Franklin might say!
Remember, your friends in Hollywood are people whose job it is to pretend to be someone else. That’s it. It may look glamorous and exciting and they love to get you all worked up with disinformation (intentional and unintentional), but you must pay little heed to what they say.
John -
First, Madison is the Father of the Constitution and introduced the Bill of Rights. George Mason basically wrote them. Jefferson had little to do with it.
Second, I’m familiar with your exceptions – they are inapplicable here because they all require probable cause – something that this policy expressly allows agents to disregard.
Third, I never travel with my laptop through airports so I’m not very worried about it, but this policy also covers your cell phone and any numbers, pictures or text messages that it contains. So I hope you feel safer surrendering your privacy so that a functional idiot at a border crossing can look at pictures of your friends and giggle at inappropriate text messages to your girlfriend.
What a brave new world.
And FYI – I actually have a bit of experience fighting the war on terror. I don’t take my cues from morons like Tom Cruise. That’s why I know that the TSA is completely worthless – illusion of security, not true security. If you want true security, spend your resources aggressively hunting these BLEEPheads down and killing their sorry asses.