Monday, August 14, 2006

Who even has time for anything like Civil Liberties anymore?

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 no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

- Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution

Who has time for a little thing like civil liberties? Well, according to this article, not the Secretary of Homeland Security. In asserting the need to expand police powers for the War on Terror, Secretary Chertoff states that "It's not like the 20th century, where you had time to get warrants."

Hooray for progress, I suppose.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

i know that this has got nothing to do with your post but you said this

"If you can't be happy with money, that speaks volumes about who you are as a person"

So..... tell me..... i want to know what a 3rd person thinks (or more like a total complete stranger thinks)

I desperately need a sense of direction.

That Girl said...

glad for that...

here in Thailand... the law is so terribly corrupt.. you dare not mess with whatever policeman's hanging around the vicinity.

Unknown said...

And why can our legal system *never* keep up with the bad guys? If we don't have time in the traditional system to get a warrant, why shouldn't the system be re-vamped? Wouldn't that be preferrable to suspending more and more of our bill of rights? I worry as our elected officials further encrouch upon our first and fourth amendment rights, but dear God don't touch our second amendment rights!

Bethany said...

I like to pretend that stuff like that doesn't happen up here in Canada, that our comperable rights are never violated, but I know that betimes they are. Still, I like to pretend that's limited to below the 49th.

Matt Kanninen said...

The bad guys just aren't that big a deal. Those of us in 1st world nations... don't have to worry much about crime, war, famine, etc. Those in the 3rd world do, and they occasionally cause the 1st world some difficulty. But seriously infringing on our own liberties is over reacting.

Tony Lee said...

I share your concerns, LC, and expect the Flaw on Terror will bring further threats to personal liberty...

Vernor Vinge's SF novel, Rainbows End, suggests that all privacy will be gone within the next 10 to 20 years, as gov depts like Homeland Security become part of standard hardware in every new computing and communications device.

At least you probably won't ever have to call the police again, they will simply "happen to you."