June 24, 2019

House votes down amendment to ban warrantless spying on Americans

fromDigitalJournal: The Charlatans, who are SO quick to swear on the Bible that they will support and defend the Constitution of the United States, have just effectively repealed the Fourth Amendment.

Government is Watching Every Move You Make           The Government is Not Us

Warrantless arrest and the role of probable cause

fromSearchLight: “Probable cause” are a powerful words for police officers, but that doesn't mean they can arrest a person on a hunch. Although there need not be absolute certainty, there must be more than mere suspicion.

Individual Liberty: America's First Principle

The Jackboots are coming: Mass arrests, power grabs and the politics of fear

fromTheRutherfordInstitute: How do you persuade a populace to embrace totalitarianism, that goose-stepping form of tyranny in which the government has all of the power and “we the people” have none?

Police State America           The Government is Not Us

Sanders-Ocasio-Cortez plan to cap credit card interest rates will backfire on consumers

fromUSAToday: The effective elimination of usury ceilings transformed the credit card market, as many previously-excluded consumers gained access to credit cards for the first time.

Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

Apparently, Bernie Sanders doesn't know the difference between revenue and profit

fromReason: Has AOC become contagious?

Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

Media freedom is almost over. Only one thing can save Julian Assange from dying in prison

fromTheCanary: And that’s if public opinion doesn’t stand for it.
Individual Liberty: America's First Principle      The Government is Not Us      Indoctrination and Censorship

VIDEO: The Widespread Use Of False Positive Drug Tests

VIDEO: The NSA Hasn't Actually Stopped Spying

Andrew Napolitano: The Spies Who Ruin Us

The Fourth Amendment has numerous virtues.   In an effort to draw attention away from the intelligence failures that permitted the attacks of 9/11 and create the impression that it was doing something — anything — to avoid a repeat, the federal government tampered seriously with freedoms expressly guaranteed in the Constitution.   ... MORE

VIDEO: Police Complaint - Stop & Frisk

Proof The System Is Broken Beyond A Reasonable Doubt

by Carlos Miller.        Serving the public like Colonel Sanders serves chicken. Juley Harris pulled into a Maryland gas station last December with his family and pumped some gas before stepping into the station’s convenience store and heating up a pizza. When he stepped out, a Charles County sheriff’s deputy was demanding his identification,      ... MORE

Joseph Farah: 3 Reasons You Can't Trust Washington

Love your country, but never trust your gov't - Bob Novak. Far too many Americans have come to the conclusion that only the federal government can solve problems.  The Democrats all believe it.  Lots of Republican politicians accept it.  For the news media, it’s an article of faith.  But America was founded on the notion that powerful  ... MORE

Police State America: NJ Supreme Court Overrules Fourth Amendment - No Warrants Necessary To Search Vehicles

by Joe Gullo.   Why citizens need to understand jury nullification. New Jersey Supreme Court ruling will allow police to search a vehicle without a warrant. According to the ruling, warrantless searches of vehicles can only be done when police have probable cause to believe the vehicle contains contraband or evidence and the circumstances give rise to        ... MORE

Conservatives Do Not Understand The 4th Amendment Is A Protection From Big Government And That's A Big Problem!

by Mark J. Fitzgibbons.     Kelley Beaucar Vlahos at Fox News does a great job reporting on use of "administrative subpoenas" for warrantless searches of medical records. American Thinker reported on this story back on July 20 ("Feds Get the Power to Seize Medical Records on 'Fishing Expedition' Investigations with No Subpoena from a Judge") with   ... MORE

Video Of NYPD Officer's Assault On Tennis Star James Blake

Cops caught in the act of being themselves.       Surveillance videotape released by the New York Police Department shows Officer James Frascatore ambushing tennis star James Blake in what appears to be a startling, illegal arrest. Frascatore has been sued four times for excessive force in the past. Missing from the surveillance tape, released on ... MORE

DEA Blasted For No-Warrant Searches Of Patient Records

by Kelley Beaucar Vlahos.     More evidence the government is not us. Drug Enforcement Administration agents have been accessing personal medical files without a warrant, generating a backlash from doctors and privacy advocates who say the practice is intrusive and unconstitutional -- and have taken the agency to court. “It’s just not right,”    ... MORE

Even In The Age Of Medical Marijuana, Court Rules Smell Of Pot Can Be Used As Pretense For Warrantless Search

by Tom Barlas. A New Jersey’s man attempt to use the state’s medical marijuana law to overturn a criminal conviction went up in smoke this week. A state appeals court ruled Tuesday that the smell of marijuana can still be used by law enforcement as the grounds for a warrantless search. The appeals court rejected George A. Meyer’s argument that    ... MORE

VIDEO: Rand Paul - Domestic Spying

Tim Cushing: Getting Behind The Wheel Is Pretty Much Kissing Your 4th Amendment Protections Goodbye

Cars are for criminals.       There's been more good news than bad concerning the Fourth Amendment recently. In addition to the Supreme Court's ruling that searches of cellphones incident to arrest now require a warrant, various circuit court decisions on cell site location info and the surreptitious use of GPS tracking devices may see the nation's    ... MORE

Ken Armstrong: How The Supreme Court Has Made It Legal For Cops To Pull You Over For Pretty Much Anything

Ignorance of the law by cops not a problem for High Court. Legal principles can be complicated, but in most courts, until eight months ago, there was a pretty simple one: Ignorance of the law is no excuse. Then came Heien v. North Carolina, decided by the US Supreme Court in December. Now the principle is: Ignorance of the law is no   ... MORE

John W Whitehead: Drivers, Beware Of The Costly, Deadly Dangers Of Traffic Stops In The American Police State

"Comply or die" is the new police state motto. Trying to predict the outcome of any encounter with the police is a bit like playing Russian roulette: most of the time you will emerge relatively unscathed, although decidedly poorer and less secure about your rights, but there’s always the chance that an encounter will turn deadly. The odds weren’t    ... MORE

A Bogus Warrant, A Burned Baby, And An Immoral War

by Jacob Sullum.   Bad cops manufacture probable cause. Shortly after midnight on May 28, 2014, Habersham County, Georgia, Deputy Sheriff Nikki Autry asked Magistrate Judge James Butterworth for a "no knock" warrant to search a house on Lakeview Heights Circle in Cornelia. In her application, Autry, a special agent with the Mountain Judicial   ... MORE

Feds Can Read Every Email You Opened Without A Warrant

by Zack Whittaker.     It's no longer a surprise that the government is reading your emails. What you might not know is that it can readily read most of your email without a warrant. Any email or social networking message you've opened that's more than six months old can also be accessed by every law enforcement official in government --   ... MORE

Tim Cushing: This Asset Forfeiture Case Points Out Just How Far Government Will Go To Steal The Citizens Money

Everything is probable cause that a crime was committed.  A federal judge has just ordered the government to return $167,000 it took from a man passing through Nevada on his way to visit his girlfriend in California. The officers really wanted that money, too. They used two consecutive stops to jerry-rig some probable cause… even though ... MORE

Andrew Napolitano: Neither Freedom Nor Safety

Doing away with probable cause for the illusion of security. In their continuous efforts to create the impression that the government is doing something to keep Americans safe, politicians in Washington have misled and lied to the public. They have violated their oaths to uphold the Constitution. They have created a false sense of security. And   ... MORE