This is getting to be ridiculous.
Federal agents may take a traveler’s laptop or other electronic device to an off-site location for an unspecified period of time without any suspicion of wrongdoing, as part of border search policies the Department of Homeland Security recently disclosed.
Also, officials may share copies of the laptop’s contents with other agencies and private entities for language translation, data decryption or other reasons, according to the policies, dated July 16 and issued by two DHS agencies, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“The policies . . . are truly alarming,” said Sen. Russell Feingold (D-Wis.), who is probing the government’s border search practices. He said he intends to introduce legislation soon that would require reasonable suspicion for border searches, as well as prohibit profiling on race, religion or national origin.
DHS officials said that the newly disclosed policies — which apply to anyone entering the country, including U.S. citizens — are reasonable and necessary to prevent terrorism. Officials said such procedures have long been in place but were disclosed last month because of public interest in the matter.
There’s no reason to have such a broad policy when it comes to U.S. citizens. It’s also unconstitutional. The “probable cause” test seems very appropriate for citizens, and a lower threshhold of reasonable concern would be appropriate for non-citizens.
This is an example where we need “activist” judges. The whole point of our constitution was the separation of powers. The sad fact is that our government, and all governments, sometimes get overzealous. They want to “protect” us, and in doing so they destroy our freedoms. That’s why we need a bunch of unelected judges to reign in our elected officials. Elected officials are too often swayed the the fears of the moment and the mood swings of the electorate.
Conservatives don’t get this. They love to demonize judges, until they need them to protect us from a government that goes too far.
