Boat owners say they were fearful during Coast Guard search

The Monterey Herald ^ | September 18, 2005 | VIRGINIA HENNESSEY

[freeeee]

There are laws on the water.

All laws repugnant to the Constitution are null and void. Yes, that very much includes the 4th Amendment.

There are two and only two distinct possibilies:

1. This boat was within the bounderies of US coastal waters, in which a warrant is required.

2. This boat was not within the bounderies of US coastal waters, in which case this was a simple act of piracy.

Today's reality? SCOTUS is "constitutionally challenged", wrote a sickening opinion, and now most of the difference of boating off the US and boating off some third world pisshole is the uniform of the guy pointing a gun at you while his palls ransack your property.

[dts32041]

Moss Landing Monterey, hell those people are obviously from Santa Cruz and they don't want the navy in town, and they are a few miles from San Francisco that doesn't want the Iowa.

Screw them, and their mexifornia attitudes.

[King Prout]

Do you know the reasoning for not applying 4th amendment protections to these searches?

I don't. Is there one that holds water?

[King Prout]

not pleasing.
not at all surprising, but not something I'm pleased by.

[IYAAYAS]

The USCG AUXILIARY are the people who do the "friendly safety inspections", they are civilians and posses no authority.

The USCG are military AND federal law enforcement officers. They can search any boat for any reason at any time that is in US navigable waters.

My brother is active duty USCG and a boatswains mate, he's done hundreds of small boat boardings. His favorite story is getting to arrest (by force) an off duty Mass state trooper for BUI. Guy was a belligerent &^%*^ and was convinced the USCG had no authority over him, he learned the hard way. The trooper had gotten drunk with his family on his boat and got lost, and used foul language for hours over CH16 till the Coast Guard "found" him.

[dts32041]

One more Comment blame the greenies for the inspections, they are the ones who want the water pure.

[freeeee]

The Coast Guard has had that authority since the day it was founded my friend

I'm sure they have. Courts in this country haven't done their job from day one.

[R. Scott]

If smugglers come in at midnite they should not be harassed?

And of course, everyone living on a boat is a smuggler – right?
Yes, I know that maritime law is different than what most of us are used to. The US Coast Guard, Border Patrol and Customs do operate under a different set of rules than normal law enforcement agencies.
I have friends who live on boats on both the James and York Rivers. Their boat is their home, just as an apartment, condo or house. If the random late night searches of floating homes is accepted by The People it will not be long before the law is stretched to include warrantless searches of traditional homes.

[cripplecreek]

I was going to blame the Amish.

[The_Media_never_lie]

I do wish they weren't sniffing around pleasure craft in Monterey Bay and instead concentrated on actual threats to national security but the fact remains they've had the power to do so for longer than I have been alive, and that's a while.

I think we may not know the whole story. These guys may have earned a spot on sombody's watch list. Maybe the guy is a smart A and this is payback.

Also, if the CG is suspicious about a place in the bilge, they have the right to enter any enclosed space on a boat, regardless.

[andyk]

Yes and it's a very good thing.

It sounds like a very horrible thing to me.

[GodBlessUSA]

They have the legal authority to do boardings. NO Warrent required, 14USC89 authorizes the Coast Guard to perform boardings, searches, and investigations on all US Vessels, and Foreign Vessels in US Territorial Waters.

They have been doing it since prohibition

[surely_you_jest]

Alexander Hamilton specifically created the precursor to the Coast Guard for the purpose of reducing smuggling (and gathering intelligence on possible disloyalty of the States).

Yes, I knew that. My question stands.

[Pessimist]

Its probably different now, but it used to be they had to ask you if they could do a safety inspection. You didn't have to allow them.

More than once I told 'em I didn't have time and that was it. No problem. But that was about 15 yrs ago.

Wonder if they had any hotties on board? Sometimes that explains it.

[verity]

The owners are simply whiny little California piss ants.

[BeHoldAPaleHorse]

The courts have held that the Revenue Cutter Service (established by Alexander Hamilton) has this authority ever since the first smuggler whined that his rights were violated, which was right after the first board and search, which was right after Hamilton established the Revenue Cutter Service.

In other words, the Founding Fathers very much disagreed with you on this one.

[RIGHTWING WACKO FROM MASS.]

Too much power for the pea brains. This is exactly the reason why our right to bear the same firearms as the military should not be infringed. This is the crap that Mr. Jefferson and friends were thinking about when they penned the Second Amendment...I feel like I've been ripped off. I voted for Bush twice thinking he was the lesser of two evils but??? Homeland Security protecting the Fatherland... The Patriot Act giving jack booted thugs rights to rape, pilage and plunder...Campaign Finance reform protecting the incumbants from the free speech of the citizenry...what's next???? Should I be expecting a visit for not complying with thought control. What the hell is wrong with this country? Bring back Reagan!!!

[AdamSelene235]

Don't get me wrong, I view it as a violation of natural rights worthy of a violent response (good luck with that).

However,for the sake of historical accuracy, this sort of thing has been going on since Alexander Hamilton who wanted it that way.

[aShepard]

Yep! Admiralty law allows them on board, but:

"and that their sanitation devices were in locked position."

I don't believe there's any regs that allow federal officers to enforce a state or local law regarding human waste discharge.

[tiki]

Hey, I've had to live with the Border Patrol for 40 yrs. These guys are just sweeties. I could tell you some real horror stories.

They leave me alone now because I took it to the public and they started getting heat.