WHAT IS HAPPENING TO THE 4TH AMENDMENT?

 

We The People have lost our minds.  We are all aware of the transgressions of the Government and specifically the NSA with regards to our reasonable expectations of privacy and our right to feel secure in our homes against unreasonable searches and seizures.  Recently, the Obama administration and the President himself announced sweeping reforms that were being proposed to stop the perceived violations of the peoples rights by the government. 

 

In a March 24th New York Times article entitled "Obama to Call for End to N.S.A.’s Bulk Data Collection" the following "changes" were proposed.

 

Under the proposal, they said, the N.S.A. would end its systematic collection of data about Americans’ calling habits. The bulk records would stay in the hands of phone companies, which would not be required to retain the data for any longer than they normally would. And the N.S.A. could obtain specific records only with permission from a judge, using a new kind of court order.

 

Following my long career in Law Enforcement in the Military, I recalled being taught and having had to follow the requires set forth in the 4th Amendment to obtain a Search Warrant.  A Search Warrant is what law enforcement are required to have in order to search you, your possessions or chattels, and / or your car and home UNLESS under exigent circumstances waiting for the issuance of a warrant would cause the lass of evidence or life etc..

 



From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia    

 

The Fourth Amendment (Amendment IV) to the United States Constitution is the part of the Bill of Rights that prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures and requires any warrant to be judicially sanctioned and supported by probable cause. It was adopted in response to the abuse of the writ of assistance, a type of general search warrant issued by the British government and a major source of tension in pre-Revolutionary America. The Fourth Amendment was introduced in Congress in 1789 by James Madison, along with the other amendments in the Bill of Rights, in response to Anti-Federalist objections to the new Constitution. Congress submitted the amendment to the states on September 28, 1789. By December 15, 1791, the necessary three-quarters of the states had ratified it. On March 1, 1792, Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson announced the adoption of the amendment.

I am not a Rhodes Scholar nor am I the brightest bulb burning on the tree at all times, however, it seems clear to me that the Government's creation of a new kind of court order continues to circumvent the already functional and time tested method to obtain information and / or evidence.  I am all in favor of thwarting terrorist plots.  I am also in favor of stopping criminal plans before they are put fully into motion.  That said, I am still a simple country boy from the Midwest and I don't know crap from apple butter, but I do taste the difference when you spread them on bread and try to force feed them to me. 

The FISA Court is a farce.  It was created to circumvent the legal methods that were set in motion in 1792 to stop the Government from abusing its powers against "We The People".  At present, NSA is not required by the FISA Court or the Government and it's agents to show probable cause as outlined in the Bill of Rights to search your records.  They have a standing "LETTER" that orders the phone companies to turn over your calling history and other information simply because they want it.  They are doing the same with banking transactions and God only knows what else.  Yes, 9-11 was tragic and the loss of American and other lives on our soil was devastating but I had nothing to do with it.  I spent a lifetime in the Military supporting and defending the "Constitution of The United States against all enemies, Foreign AND Domestic."  I have worked in places that don't exist.  I have been entrusted with the security of persons and information that cannot to this day be discussed.  I am not a threat to the United States. 

I am a patriot.  I believe that those who can, MUST stand against injustices for those who themselves cannot or will not.  I believe that a government not kept in check will usurp all of the rights and freedoms its citizens have fought to secure and that if we do not exercise our rights and freedoms they will be forever lost to us.

A system exists that was specifically designed to establish procedures and protocols to ensure that the Government over "We The People" did not grow so big or so powerful that it could forget that it is "OF the People, BY the People and For the People".  As time and technology both advance, We The People need to be even more diligent in our efforts to ensure that Our government does not forget itself or our rights and freedoms.

Semper Vigilantes