Free Republic

"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 U.S. Constitution No one ever accused Harvard Professor Alan Dershowitz of being a conservative, but Dershowitz is a rare breed these days; someone who applies the Constitution and the law to everyone, regardless of their political leanings. In the matter of...

The Fourth Amendment of our sensational Constitution reads as follows:“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects,[a] 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.”What this means is: Government can’t invade your property or grab your stuff - without first securing a warrant.  And they have to have a darn good and specific reason to ask for said warrant.In this the Digital...

Well, as we discuss intelligence leaks, the workings of the Deep State, and unmasking, let’s circle back to the Obama administration, which violated Americans’ privacy through the National Security Agency for years. The lack of following protocol was so bad that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Court (FISA) scolded them for having an “institutional lack of candor.” Circa, who first covered the story, had more [emphasis mine] Nets Blackout Massive Constitutional Violations by Obama’s NSA The National Security Agency under former President Barack Obama routinely violated American privacy protections while scouring through overseas intercepts and failed to disclose the extent...

A decision last week about NSA spying by a panel of judges on the United States Court of Appeals in New York City sent shock waves through the government. The court ruled that a section of the Patriot Act that is due to expire at the end of this month and on which the government has relied as a basis for its bulk acquisition of telephone data in the past 14 years does not authorize that acquisition. This may sound like legal mumbo jumbo, but it goes to the heart of the relationship between the people and their government in...

Seldom in American history has the Supreme Court unanimously rejected positions advocated by presidents' administrations. But in this respect at least, President Obama has produced the fundamental transformation he promised in his 2008 campaign. Over the last three years, the Court has rejected Obama administration positions repeatedly in unanimous 9-0 decisions. A review of these cases reveals much about the governing philosophy of the Obama administration. One thing is abundantly clear, namely that this administration has a crabbed view of the First Amendment right of free exercise of religion. That is apparent not only in June's 5-4 decision ruling in...

Scary. Unacceptable. This is not America. Those are some of the comments that I have heard about the revelations regarding government snooping on our cell phones. The statement that one man made that something is wrong with you if you don’t think something is askew here -- that would be about right. If you are not upset about this situation then you are clueless. There is a dangerous extension of government that no true American could possibly endorse or accept. Our government has no right to randomly rummage through our cell phone or email records. If you think that the...