If George Orwell were alive today and saw what was happening in America, he’d say, “I told you so.”
The surveillance state has expanded dramatically over the past decade or so under both George Bush and Barack Obama. Both parties are to blame for not holding the executive accountable when it comes to violating civil liberties in the name of national security.
Undoubtedly, intelligence agencies and government searches and seizures are vital for our protection. But I think most would agree that the balance between civil liberties and the government’s legitimate interest in national security has swung too far in the wrong direction.
This administration is currently fighting a plethora of lawsuits against the NSA’s spying program, and it just won a lawsuit that was brought against a federal law allowing border patrol agents to conduct warrantless, suspicionless searches of the contents of your possessions.
FoxNews.com reports:
A federal judge has ruled that the government can search your laptop, cellphone or other electronic devices near the border even if it does not have any suspicion of wrongdoing.
The covered area stretches 100 miles from the actual border. Critics argue these searches are clear violations of the Fourth Amendment.
The case stems from the ACLU’s challenge to the federal law on behalf of a graduate student named Pascal Abidor. He was traveling by train from Canada to New York when authorities searched his laptop and saw pictures of Hamas rallies.
An Islamic Studies student, Abidor argued that the pictures were only research. He was detained and questioned for hours and the laptop was held for more than a week.
The government maintains that these broad search policies are necessary to ensure public safety.
According to the judge, areas around the borders are massive “constitution-free” zones where the federal government can search the contents of your laptop, cellphone, and other electronic devices without any kind of warrant or reasonable suspicion. This young man was detained for hours while the feds searched his laptop for eleven days.
We’re not opposed to warrantless searches of your car and other items at the border. But looking at the contents of the electronic devices that you own goes beyond necessary security measures and is invasive. The Constitution doesn’t just protect you when you’re not near a border. It prevents government intrusion everywhere where the United States has jurisdiction.
http://conservativetribune.com/judge-says-there-are-constitution-free-zones/
