Posted on 07/19/2007 4:32:50 AM PDT by Clive
Last Friday, a provincial court judge in British Columbia ruled that our borders are not a "Charter Free zone." More specifically, she found that Canada's border guards cannot arbitrarily detain individuals crossing the border, and must obtain a search warrant to inspect vehicles and personal property when guards have reasonable and probable grounds to suspect a crime, such as smuggling illegal drugs, weapons or other contraband.
Federal prosecutors have rightly appealed the decision. Guards should not have carte blanche to detain citizens or destroy their property for no good reason. But neither should they be burdened with the need to obtain search warrants when they have reasonable suspicion of a crime. Public safety and the need to ensure the timely flow of traffic across the border must take priority.
Justice Ellen Gordon's ruling involves the case of Ajitpal Singh Sekhon, a Canadian citizen who crossed into Canada in a pickup truck from the United States at Aldergrove, B.C., in January, 2005. The Canadian border guard on duty, after asking Sekhon where he'd been, determined that his behaviour was highly unusual, that Sekhon was nervous, and that he did not maintain steady eye contact. Sekhon was told that he would face a secondary inspection. The agent marked Sekhon's Customs form with a reference to currency, suggesting that Sekhon was suspected of having more than $10,000 in cash, which must be declared.
Sekhon's vehicle was inspected by other officers, who found reason to suspect that a hidden compartment was built into the vehicle. When he tried to leave the Customs office, he was locked in a room, without being advised of his rights or formally detained. A dog searching Sekhon's truck gave officers an indication that drugs were present, and a secret compartment was found. Holes were drilled in the vehicle, which revealed the presence of cocaine. Sekhon's pickup was then taken to an enclosed location where it was dismantled and 50 kilograms of cocaine was found.
Justice Gordon ruled that border guards violated sections 8 and 9 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, forbidding arbitrary arrest and guaranteeing the right to a lawyer. Sekhon should not have been locked in a Customs office without being advised of his rights, she found. In addition, Justice Gordon argued that Sekhon had been the victim of unreasonable search or seizure, because guards did not obtain a warrant before they started drilling holes in Sekhon's truck.
The case highlights the need to better train our border guards so that they not only understand their own policing powers, but also the rights of Canadians at our borders. And we agree that summarily locking someone in a room is excessive. But guards should not have to go through the process of obtaining a warrant when they have reasonable suspicion of wrongdoing, in this case, smuggling drugs. Canadians do not expect the same level of privacy when crossing borders as they do on our streets. Everyone approaching a border crossing knows that he or she will be held accountable for the contents of his vehicle by law-enforcement agents enjoying broad powers.
If those powers are compromised, then either our borders will become jammed as customs agents attempt to secure an endless series of warrants -- or our country will become a more dangerous place because smugglers will be waved through without inspections. Neither scenario would be welcome.
-
Great! A further *dumbing down* of our border enforcement.
Opening the door for No Borders.
Justice Ellen Gordon is just planing ahead. Job security for the NAU. Border agents will be 8 track tapes.
Close the border tight... the effect will cause the authorities to once again find themselves doing their JOB!
LLS
This is about the Canadian Border.
I crossed into BC from Alaska and the Canadian agent there asked a lot of questions then searched my van.
I think it was related to boredom because there were almost no traffic and his remote crossing is 50 miles or better from a town.
“This is about the Canadian Border.”
I know. When the NAU is created, there will be NO borders.
BTW; I suspect they check you out more at the *quite* border crossings.
No it’s not. The guy was likely to abscond. What did they think that he would just stick around while the customs agents dismantled his car and recovered his dope? Silly.
ping
Totally mindboggling how rulings on both sides are against the border guards.
Note to the bad guys - come through the busier crossings.
So the Canadians have a suicide pact going, too?
Only that the specific problems and the scope of problems are different north and south.
Justice Ellen Gordon is not a judge - she’s a criminal undermining western civilization. A mindless automaton programmed to seek out the minutia of laws to circumvent the survivial of a free western society.
I can’t repeat here what should be done to this creature and her fellow-travlers on the bench who think and act as she does in a manner so blatantly destructive to the survival of a western democracy.
Provincial courts are courts of summary jurisdiction, dealing generally with offenses proceeded with by summary conviction, non-indictable offenses (misdemeanors at common law), family and juvenile courts, small claims courts and the conduct of preliminary hearings of indictable offenses (to determine whethere there is an arguable case to bind it over for trial).
They are not courts of inherent jurisdiction and while their decisions might be possibly persuasive, stare decisis does not attach to them, especially in respect of constitutional issues.
Essentially, she is a magistrate, not a court of inherent jurisdiction.
I crossed the Canadian border today going from Montana to Alberta...I didn’t have a problem. But the fact that these people don’t want border security is troubling...
What "people"?
We have one inferior court judge placing a psychopathic interpretation upon the Charter of Rights. We have the Crown appealing the decision, the government taking the position that stare decisis does not apply to it, and the customs people saying that they will continue to search suspicious vehicles without first seeking a warrant.
Tell me that this sort of interpretation doesn't happen in the US.
Tell me that you don't have over 15 million illegally resident aliens? Tell me that you don't catch and release them like a caught fish that is too small to be worth putting into the creel. Tell me that you know who they are and where they are and what they are doing
Tell me about the awesome security of your southern border. Tell me that airline passengers don't have to fear getting sued if they report suspicious behaviour.
A dog sniffs its own arse first.
Whoa...did I say we had great border security? No. And I didn’t say so for a reason. Our southern border security is practically non-existant.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.