Over the last few decades, the courts and Congress have gradually made the warrant clause of the Fourth Amendment superfluous. Now the majority of searches in the United States are done without searches and private companies are now conducting searches for copyright and trademark infringements with the pleasing of Congress (and the lobbyists that shape the laws). Now, government agents have been offering a type of inverse Miranda warning — explaining that we don’t need stinking warrants in raiding homes. In a recent raid, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent were asked if they had a warrant, one agent reportedly said, “We don’t need a warrant, we’re ICE,” and, gesturing to his genitals, “the warrant is coming out of my balls.”
Continue reading “ICE Balls: Federal Agents Announce “We Don’t Need a Warrant, We’re ICE””
Category: Constitutional Law
-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger
It’s time once again for a history lesson, coming to you courtesy of Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Florida). The questions are: when did Fidel Castro come to power and when did Rubio’s parents come to America? According to Rubio’s official bio, his parents “came to America following Fidel Castro’s takeover” of Cuba. Rubio used that compelling story to shape his political persona. Rubio would tell audiences that he was the “son of exiles” who fled their beloved homeland after “a thug” took power.
Respectfully submitted by Lawrence Rafferty (rafflaw)-Guest Blogger
If you think the Government is allowed to spy on Americans too much already, this next story will increase your blood pressure. It was recently disclosed by the Associated Press that a CIA undercover operative has been directly advising the New York Police Department for at least 3 months. I could have sworn that it was illegal for the CIA to spy on Americans, but nothing has been done to curb this possible violation and abuse of American’s privacy. Continue reading “The Unholy Marriage Between the CIA and NYPD”
The Fontana Unified School District board is not generally a hot bed of controversy, but it is the focus of a novel controversy after member Leticia Garcia revealed that she has a “confidential marriage” to a convicted murderer who was recently released. The existence of such confidential marriages is a surprise to most citizens, but not as much as the existence of a former convict husband for a recently elected board member who reportedly had said she was divorced.
Continue reading “Parents Demand California School Board Member Resign After Disclosure of “Confidential Marriage” To Murderer”
Soon after the news that Gadhafi had been shot, Judge Reggie Walton issued an opinion dismiss the lawsuit by members of Congress challenging the war powers claim underlying the intervention in the Libyan war without a declaration of Congress. I represent the members in that litigation. The Court declined to rule on the merits of the constitutional claims and instead held that the court does not have jurisdiction to rule on such questions. Despite the timing, the opinion did not turn on the removal of Gadhafi. The opinion is below.
Continue reading “Federal Judge Dismisses War Powers Challenge By Members of Congress”
Below is today’s column in The Los Angeles Times on the Supreme Court granting certiorari in the Alvarez case and the constitutionality of the Stolen Valor Act. I have long been a critic of the Stolen Valor Act and supported the decision of the Ninth Circuit to strike down the law. Civil libertarians have good reason to worry.
Continue reading “The Truth Police: The Supreme Court Takes Up Stolen Valor”
Recently, I wrote a column in the Washington Post about the increasing use of faith as an issue in the 2012 presidential campaign. In the Western Republican Presidential Debate, the candidates appeared to double down on the use of politicized piety. Rick Santorum reaffirmed that a candidate’s faith was essential to his qualifications. Newt Gingrich, however, used the opportunity to again attack agnostics, atheists, and secularists – saying that you cannot trust any leader who does not pray.
Continue reading “Gingrich: You Cannot Trust Politicians Who Do Not Pray”
We have yet another case of an officer threatening to arrest a citizen for filming him in public. In the perfect libertarian nightmare, the officer was threatening a Ron Paul supporter who he had accused of distracting traffic with his sign in Exton, Pennsylvania.
Continue reading “Pennsylvania Officer Threatens Ron Paul Supporter With Arrest for Filming Him in Public”
-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger
The Fourth Amendment often appears to be on life support, however in Arizona v. Gant, it got a slight reprieve. The Supreme Court voted 5-4 with Stevens, joined by Scalia, Souter, Thomas, and Ginsburg voting in the majority. Not the usual grouping for a 5-4 decision. This case involves the search-incident-to-arrest exception to the Fourth Amendment’s protection against unreasonable searches.
-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger
In the Hasidic neighborhood of South Williamsburg in Brooklyn, New York, persons unknown has been putting up signs in Yiddish that translate to: “Precious Jewish daughter, please move to the side when a man approaches.” City workers have removed the signs, not based on the message but because it’s illegal to affix signs on street trees.
Rep. Brad Drake (R., Eucheeanna) wants to put the pain back into executions. The Florida Republican has filed a bill to require the use of electrocution or firing squads to execute people — saying that lethal injection is simply too easy a way out for convicted murderers.
Continue reading “The Politics of Pain: Florida Legislator Seeks To Bring Back Electric Chairs and Firing Squads For Executions”
As complaints rise over mass arrests by Boston police in the Occupy Boston protests, Mayor Thomas Menino decided to add a rather draconian note by announcing ” “Civil disobedience will not be tolerated.” It was a moment reminiscent of former Chicago Mayor Richard Daley announcing in the 1968 Democratic Convention protests that “the policeman isn’t there to create disorder; the policeman is there to preserve disorder.”
Continue reading “Boston Mayor: Civil Disobedience Will Not Be Tolerated”
Chris White, 45, has become the latest victim in a trend in the United States (here) and England cracking down on citizens taking pictures in public. In White’s case, he was simply taking pictures of his daughter at a shopping center in Glasgow, Scotland when he was detained as a possible terrorist threat.
Continue reading “Toddler or Terrorist? Father Detained For Taking Picture of Daughter in Mall”
Today, I will appearing on the National Public Radio (NPR) program, Talk of the Nation to discussing my column in the Los Angeles Times on Barack Obama’s disastrous impact on civil liberties in the United States. The piece has generated some interesting discussion on the LA Times blog as well as other blogs. Despite my disagreement with some of the commenters, any discussion of civil liberties is welcomed in this political atmosphere. Ironically, the day of the column (which specifically discussed the President’s assertion of his right to kill citizens he considers terrorists), President Obama ordered the killing of U.S. cleric Anwar al-Aulaqi and reportedly a second U.S. born cleric. [Update: Here is the TOTN interview].
Continue reading “Obama and Civil Liberties: Talk of the Nation”
The Iranian courts have responded to a film detailing the repression of artists in Iran by ordering the flogging and imprisonment of an actress, Marzieh Vafamehr. Vafamehr will be given 90 lashes and imprisoned for a year for her role in “My Tehran for Sale,” a film that tells the story of a young actress in Tehran who cannot perform due to government repression.