Posted on 08/25/2017 5:27:32 AM PDT by bitt
A MAJOR RED FLAG WAS BURIED IN THE TEXT OF A BILL WITH A SEEMINGLY HARMLESS TITLE. (TFTP) A bill that will allow homes to be searched without a warrant was passed with overwhelming support by the United States Congress, and signed into law by President Trump—and it happened with no media coverage and very little fanfare.
On the surface, House Joint Resolution 76 looks harmless. The title of the bill claims that its purpose is “Granting the consent and approval of Congress for the Commonwealth of Virginia, the State of Maryland, and the District of Columbia to enter into a compact relating to the establishment of the Washington Metrorail Safety Commission.”
(Excerpt) Read more at thelastamericanvagabond.com ...
PING -
“In performing its duties, the Commission, through its Board or designated employees or agents, may:Enter upon the WMATA Rail System and, upon reasonable notice and a finding by the chief executive officer that a need exists, upon any lands, waters, and premises adjacent to the WMATA Rail System, including, without limitation, property owned or occupied by the federal government, for the purpose of making inspections, investigations, examinations, and testing as the Commission may deem necessary to carry out the purposes of this MSC Compact, and such entry shall not be deemed a trespass.”
” it violates one of the basic tenants of the U.S. Constitution.”
These people never learn. Any agency or police force that decides to do a warrantless search will end up paying big bucks. This has been settled before.
My reading is that it protects the agency from the charge of trespass. The INTENT being to enable the agents of Metrorail to gain access to their facilities without the neeed for:
1) prior approval of the property owner for lands next to the Metro rail property
and
2) without the need for a warrant to enter and cross such lands
while the INTENT may be reasonable, the wording and execution of this law leaves a lot to be desired. Lots of other ways this could have been addressed.
Similar to the Patriot Act — much government overreach and invasion of privacy, but hey, it’s for our security, right? We want to catch the terrorists, right? The government would never use this power against us law-abiding citizens, right?
I don’t expect to live in a safe world.
I expect to live in a free country. Respect the Constitution.
We're governed by traitors!
I’m against all of these “high speed rail” projects.
Don’t want them.
Don’t need them.
They aren’t being designed for cargo, they are people movers. Inefficient people movers.
We are told that at least some of them are “privately funded” until you look at the fine print and addendum and the people who lose their land and travel aren’t happy about it.
Crony Communism and the whole circuit goes through Obama’s corrupt AF Chicago.
This is not a break down the door operation...
Guess you'd rather have the rail blow up....
NSA and warrantless searches. All hail Big Brother.
The law is invalid and therefore not binding. Those who voted for it need to be stripped of their powers.
Sounds pretty much like any municipal utility. They have a right to enter your property for reading meters or repairing their lines/equipment once they've determined the need, and given notice.
Not to defend this unconstitutional bill, but people will shrug, since health and safety inspectors can enter businesses at will all the time.
That’s one way to drain the swamp.
There seems to be a tendency in this day and age of competition for electronic ad space premiums to dig deep for click-baitable titles. These “titles” for stories are sensationalized and adulterated to promote visits.
Sensationalism.
And exaggerated characterization, and no threat to any person.
The 4th Amendment will trump any law by Congress in any court in the land.
And that assumes this Safety Commission actually violates somebodys rights.
I’m not sure the author is reading this statute correctly. It sounds like the whole purpose of this law is to address the unusual circumstances in the D.C. area where you have a public transit agency operating a railroad through areas adjacent to a lot of property owned by the Federal government. Railroads may already have similar authority over private property owners under Federal law. In the event of a derailment or hazardous material spill along a railroad right-of-way, I’m guessing the railroad doesn’t need a warrant to cross private property to get to the site of the incident.
Well said.
New tagline...
This is for WMATA, AKA Washington Metro. I don’t think it has anything to do with high speed rail. This is your Emily Litella moment.
Fixed?
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.