Free Republic

Rep. Matt Gaetz @RepMattGaetz BREAKING: In response to a letter sent by Rep. Matt Gaetz and @Jim_Jordan, Perkins Coie, the legal arm of the DNC and Hillary Clinton, admits they have been operating an FBI workspace in their Washington, D.C. office since 2012.

The 4th Amendment right against warrantless searches of a person’s home is a pillar of Americans’ constitutional liberties. Before a police officer, or any other government official, can enter your home, they must show a judge that they have probable cause that they will discover specific evidence of a crime. There are some limited exceptions to this right. There is an “exigent circumstances” exception. If a police officer looks through a home’s window and sees a person about to stab another person, the officer can burst through the door to prevent the attack. There is also the “emergency aid” exception....

RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) – Wake County is relying on cell phone data to see if people are social distancing and following the stay-at-home order. “We have various metrics that we use including anonymous cell phone data that shows that the overwhelming majority of Wake Couny residents are staying at home,” said Wake County Commissioner Chairman Greg Ford. Wake County’s Emergency Operation Center is keeping track by monitoring public websites from Google and Unacast. They compile anonymous cell phone data and break it down by each individual state to track where people go, for how long, and with how many people....

The Department of Justice has been dismissing child pornography cases in order to not reveal information about the software programs used as the basis for the charges. An array of cases suggest serious problems with the tech tools used by federal authorities. But the private entities who developed these tools won't submit them for independent inspection or hand over hardly any information about how they work, their error rates, or other critical information. As a result, potentially innocent people are being smeared as pedophiles and prosecuted as child porn collectors, while potentially guilty people are going free so these companies...

Bloomberg link: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-04-07/manafort-says-fbi-illegally-searched-storage-unit-for-evidence

SAN FRANCISCO – In the latest clash over privacy rights in the digital age, Microsoft is suing the U.S. government over a federal law that allows authorities to examine customer emails or online files without the individual’s knowledge. The lawsuit comes as the tech industry is increasingly butting heads with U.S. officials over the right to view a wide range of information – including emails, photos and financial records – that customers are storing on smartphones and in so-called “cloud” computing centers. Microsoft says the U.S. Justice Department is abusing a decades-old law, the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, to obtain...

Today the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Navarette v California, a case in which a wrong decision will effectively repeal the 4th Amendment rights of the American people. The text of the 4th Amendment reads: 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. In 1968, the Supreme Court ruled that “…law enforcement...

WASHINGTON — As America's road planners struggle to find the cash to mend a crumbling highway system, many are beginning to see a solution in a little black box that fits neatly by the dashboard of your car. The devices, which track every mile a motorist drives and transmit that information to bureaucrats, are at the center of a controversial attempt in Washington and state planning offices to overhaul the outdated system for funding America's major roads.

Maryland state police and federal agents used a search warrant in an unrelated criminal investigation to seize the private reporting files of an award-winning former investigative journalist for The Washington Times who had exposed problems in the Homeland Security Department’s Federal Air Marshal Service. Reporter Audrey Hudson said the investigators, who included an agent for Homeland’s Coast Guard service, took her private notes and government documents that she had obtained under the Freedom of Information Act during a predawn raid of her family home on Aug. 6. The documents, some which chronicled her sources and her work at the Times...

Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control officials said the current review of a University of Virginia student's arrest after agents mistook a crate of LaCroix sparkling water for beer is the second look agency supervisors have taken at the case. ABC earlier this year found no wrongdoing in the agents' encounter with three sorority women who panicked at the sight of a half-dozen undercover officers in plainclothes. One of the agents unholstered his weapon during the April 11 incident and held it at the "ready" position, but did not point it at anyone, according to ABC. "Because of the public outcry, they're...

SCOTUSblog flags a pending cert petition on an interesting Fourth Amendment question: What limits, if any, does the Fourth Amendment place on the use of a trained drug-sniffing dog to approach the front door of a home? The police might do this to see if the dog will alert for the presence of narcotics in the home, which might then be used to help show probable cause and obtain a warrant to search it. Under Illinois v. Caballes, the use of the dog around a car is not a “search” and therefore outside the Fourth Amendment. The question is, does...

Special session to include debate on airport pat-downs By Peggy Fikac Updated 11:20 p.m., Monday, June 20, 2011 AUSTIN — Gov. Rick Perry, under pressure from tea party activists, on Monday added to lawmakers' to-do list a ban on airport security searches considered intrusive without probable cause to believe someone has committed an offense. The measure died in the regular legislative session in the wake of warnings from federal officials that it would conflict with federal law and could force flight cancellations if the safety of passengers and crew couldn't be assured. “We can't let threats from the federal government...

Americans must to decide if, in the name of homeland security, they are willing to allow TSA operatives to storm public places in their communities with no warning, pat them down, and search their bags. And they better decide quickly. Bus travelers were shocked when jackbooted TSA officers in black SWAT-style uniforms descended unannounced upon the Tampa Greyhound bus station in April with local, state and federal law enforcement agencies and federal bureaucrats in tow. A news report by ABC Action News in Tampa showed passengers being given the signature pat downs Americans are used to watching the Transportation Security...

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -- A western Indiana school district wants to give its bus drivers the authority to search students for weapons or drugs. The Tribune-Star reported that a Vigo County School Corp. proposal would allow the drivers to search a student and the student's belongings if there is an immediate threat of harm or danger to those on the bus.

A video of Transportation Security Officers (TSOs) screening passengers at a Savannah, Georgia Amtrak station has been gaining quite a bit of attention and many are wondering why we were screening passengers who had just disembarked from a train. We were wondering the same thing. The screening shown in the video was done in conjunction with a VIPR operation. During VIPR operations, any person entering the impacted area has to be screened. In this case, the Amtrak station was the subject of the VIPR operation so people entering the station were being screened for items on the Amtrak prohibited items...

This has been mentioned in other threads, but deserves its own. Here is a video from 2/13/11 showing a mother and two young children being searched AFTER they got off the train at the Savannah train depot. From the YouTube poster's account: Quote: The only bad thing on our trip was TSA was at the Savannah train station. There were about 14 agents pulling people inside the building and coralling everyone in a roped area AFTER you got OFF THE TRAIN! This made no sense!!! Poor family in front of us! 9 year old getting patted down and wanded. They...

Last week, a Florida appellate court handed down a fascinating decision affirming the denial of a suppression motion while making perfecting clear the court’s strong suspicion that the officers’ testimony was false. The case is Ruiz v. State. Ruiz is a drug case involving an alleged consent search at the suspect’s home. The officers testified one way; the defendant testified very differently. The officers testified that they approach Ruiz on the street and politely asked him for ID. Ruiz invited the officers to his home, where his ID was located, and asked the officers to come with him. When the...

Amison v. State, 5 So.3d 798 (Fla.App. 2 Dist. 2009) a case from Dade City, Appellate case number 2D07-5928 was reversed because they most likely did some things right. [1] The lawyer, a public defender, filed a pre-trial motion to suppress evidence or a request to block evidence of the search. Because the judge denied the motion, [2] Amison plead no contest most likely because of the overwhelming evidence against him, reserving the right to appeal the denial of his motion. What happens when a motion to suppress, or a motion in liminie, is requested after the jury is sworn,...

The Supreme Court limited the use of the so-called exclusionary rule Wednesday and said that evidence seized by the police need not be thrown out if officers later learn their search warrant was faulty because of a computer mistake. Chief Justice John Roberts said the exclusionary rule was intended to deter the police from conducting illegal searches of homes and cars..... not intended to give criminals a free pass if officers search the wrong house or car because of a computer error at police headquarters, he said. In a 5-4 ruling, the court upheld the drug and gun charges against...

Folks, I'm so mad I can't see straight and I hope the smarter(than me) people here at FR can advise us on this. At school registration we got a handout informing us about a change to school policy. Starting this school year, any student who wishes to participate in any extra curricular or co-curricular activities must consent to random drug testing! Needless to say I was 'stuned' and speechless. We're not a big metropolitan school district, we're a very small, rural school. This was apparently done during a closed session of the school board's meeting over the summer. As far...