Well, that certainly clears the air!
Main Basis for Probable Cause for the Mar-a-Largo Search Warrant Revealed
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Tag Archives: Fourth Amendment
Defects in Red Flag Laws
The obvious objection to most red flag laws is based in the Second Amendment. IANAL, but it seems to me that they also infringe on rights secured by the Fourth Amendment (“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 the Fifth Amendment (“No person shall be … deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law …”). Don’t firearms count as “effects” or “property”?
About Those Phone Records
The House Intelligence Committee released its report relating to the Whistleblower Hoax, and it included information derived from telephone records obtained by the Democrats on the committee. That prompted me to retweet a tweet by Adam Schiff with this comment—
The Democrats might want to take note of how the House Impeachment Hoax is being viewed in the Senate. In order to get a conviction, the Democrats must convince 2/3 of the Senate to find against the President. Their tactics aren’t playing well, especially with Republicans.
There’s a big difference between 1974 and 2019. During Watergate, there was overwhelming evidence that Richard Nixon had participated in the attempt to cover up an actual crime, the burglary of the Democrats’ office, and everyone, both Democrats and Republicans, agreed that a crime had been committed. Today, the Democrats have tried for over three years and still haven’t come up with any charge other than First Degree Orange Man Bad. The Russian Collusion Hoax backfired and exposed apparent criminal activity and malfeasance by law enforcement and intelligence agencies. The Ukrainian Hoax is backfiring, exposing apparent criminal activity and malfeasance by senior executive branch officials and diplomats. (Why, it’s almost enough to make one start to believe in some of those Deep State conspiracy theories!)
In 1974, Republican senators went to the White House and advised Richard Nixon to resign because of the overwhelming evidence against him. Today, Republican senators aren’t impressed by the underwhelming evidence presented thus far—and they and the public are questioning the fairness and honesty of the Democrats’ “investigation” in the House.
If the Democrats are stupid enough to pass articles of impeachment against the President, they had better personally lawyer up because they likely will be called as fact witnesses by the Senate. I’ll bet that evidence such as Adam Schiff’s phone records will have been lawfully obtained and will form the basis of some of the questioning.
Stay tuned.
The Newspapers v. Maryland
I’ve previously posted about a group of newspapers filing suit against Maryland to stop the state’s unconstitutional attempt to regulate political advertising on the Internet. The newspapers are seeking a preliminary injunction to stop the law from going into effect. The State has filed an opposition to the motion for a preliminary injunction.
There will be a hearing on the motion for a preliminary injunction. It was originally scheduled for early October, but the lawyers and Judge Grimm are trying to resolve scheduling conflicts. When the hearing is scheduled, I’ll make arrangements to attend and report on it.
They Have the Right to Remain Silent
As I’m sure the Gentle Reader has seen elsewhere on the Interwebz, the Parkland High School Children’s Crusade gang is now whining about how their rights are being infringed by having to use transparent book bags at school. David Hogg has complained about how that violated their First Amendment rights.
Uh, no.
Having to use a see-through book bag doesn’t infringe on the rights to peaceably assemble or petition the government. It doesn’t infringe on their right to speak. It doesn’t infringe on the rights of a free press. And it’s unclear (pun intended) how it would infringe on anyone’s religious rights.
If he’d tried to make an argument based on the prohibition on unreasonable searches and seizure of the Fourth Amendment … “secure in their … persons, … papers, and effects” … then he wouldn’t have further revealed his ignorance of the Bill of Rights.
Just as the right of self defense in a natural right, so is the right to remain silent. As the proverb says: Better to be silent and thought a fool than to speak and prove it.
The First Amendment, the Fourth Amendment, Sexual Harassment, and the TSA
There’s nothing new under the sun. This tweet deals with an incident that occurred in 2011.
While the fizzled attempt at lawfare wasn’t a government act, the “search” was.
Here is Ms. Alkon’s OC Register Op Ed.
Here is the Tech Dirt post.
UPDATE—Introductory paragraph added. It will be interesting to see how future such incidents play our in the post-Weinstein era.
33 Years Late
So it’s come out via Wikileaks that the CIA (and presumably other agencies around the world) are using our televisions to spy on us.
Winston Smith was unavailable for comment.
Are You Pondering What I’m Pondering?
I think so, Brain … but if we start putting the Constitution in our emails, the government might start reading it.
I’m Not Making This Up, You Know
Some boneheaded local politician in Massachusetts wants to be able to send the local cops in to gun owners’ homes to “inspect” how their guns are stored. Perhaps this bozo hasn’t heard of the Fourth Amendment. You know, that bit in the Bill of Rights about a warrant being needed for a search.
The guy is a selectman in the town of Swampscott. I wonder how far that is from Lexington and Concord?
Dogs and Cats Living Together!
(H/T, Shall Not Be Questioned) Reuters is reporting that the NRA is filing an amicus brief in support of the ACLU’s suit against the Obama Administration concerning NSA surveillance. The ACLU is welcoming the NRA’s support.
The ACLU is asking the court to stop the NSA’s program of tracking telephone calls, to declare the program illegal, and to order the government to purge all its databases of the call records. The NRA says in its brief
The mass surveillance program could allow identification of NRA members, supporters, potential members, and other persons with whom the NRA communicates, potentially chilling their willingness to communicate with the NRA.
The NRA has also notes that the Obama Administration’s interpretation of section 215 of the the Patriot act would have the effect of nullifying the statutory ban on the centralization of gun purchase and ownership records.
Two Headlines
From WaPo—NSA broke privacy rules thousands of times per year, audit finds
From NY Daily News—Request for gun permits in Newtown set to double last year’s numbers: police
There’s a connection between these two headlines.
Regardless of our beliefs, we have to live in the real world, and the real world is not politically correct. People in Newtown, having learned that the police cannot always protect them and their children, are taking steps to be more self-reliant. They don’t trust government to be able to protect them from criminals.
And why should they? Government at every level is failing to be trustworthy.
I suppose the good news for the Newtown residents who aren’t gun owners is that the NSA will have records of their 911 calls.
NSA’s Dilemma
XKCD explains it.
Are You Pondering What I’m Pondering?
I’m not sure, Brain … let me check with the NSA.
The Man’s Best Friend
In his opinion for the majority of the Supreme Court, Justice Scalia writes:
The government’s use of trained police dogs to investigate the home and it’s surroundings is a “search” within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment.
Ann Althouse has more on the decision.