Happy Constitution Day...

...for what it's worth. For an enlightening look of how our courts view that most esteemed--but dead--document, see their educational page here. Pretty sad! I especially liked the discussion on the Fourth Amendment's protections against telephone eavesdropping:

Issue #2: Expectation of Privacy

Perhaps the "reasonable expectation of privacy" doctrine can be further circumscribed. For instance, in government terrorism investigations, the government does not randomly select phone lines to tap. Law enforcement chooses those lines it has a reason to believe are being used for terrorist activities. Since it would be absurd to argue that one has a "reasonable expectation of privacy" when discussing terrorism strategies and tactics, eavesdropping on such telephone conversations is not unreasonable as long as the government ceases if it becomes apparent that the call has nothing to do with criminal or terrorist activity.

Notice how they expanded it from terrorist activities to all criminal activities in the last sentence. What they're saying is that the government gets a free pass to listen in on any phone calls just as long as they have a reason to believe they are being used for criminal activities. I love the way they justify their infringement of the Fourth Amendment: if we think you're plotting and planning terrorist activities, you don't have any rights until we can prove that you're not a bad guy. That, of course, stands the concept of inalienable rights on its head as well as the innocent until proven guilty doctrine. You have rights regardless of what you're doing. It's up  the courts to decide if law enforcement is justified in violating those rights to prevent you from committing a crime. That's why a warrant is required.

 

Talk about putting the cart before the horse...!