Phillips: Congressman Goodlatte, Save the Fourth Amendment – Roanoke Times

Phillips is the founder of Tea Party Nation. He is based in Nashville, Tenn.

Among lawyers, there is a saying, Bad cases make bad law. Now, a single case is about to make very bad law. It will eviscerate the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution in the 21st Century.

And Congressman Bob Goodlatte can stop it.

While the background for this is a little technical, it is worth knowing. In 2013, the United States Department of Justice sought a search warrant on electronic communications for an individual, under Section 2703(a) of the Stored Communications Act.

The search warrant was served on Microsoft, for communications in the companys possession. Microsoft complied with the warrant as far as any digital communications that it had that were stored in America. The problem for law enforcement was some of those communications were stored in Ireland and Microsoft said it could not and would not produce those. Microsoft was held in civil contempt for refusing to turn over the emails and contents stored in Ireland.

Eventually the case went to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled that Microsoft was not obligated to turn over emails and other digital records that were exclusively stored outside of the United States.

Not satisfied with that ruling, the Department of Justice chose a different route. They decided to ask Congress to give them what the Courts would not. The House Judiciary committee will hold a hearing on June 15th, entitled, Data stored abroad: Ensuring Lawful Access and Protecting Privacy.

Fortunately, the laws governing false advertising do not apply to Congress.

When the 4th Amendment was written, it was one of the most expansive statements of liberty and an incredible restriction on the power of government. The Fourth Amendment says, 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.

If you consider the world of the 1780s, that statement was amazing. Every form of property the founding fathers could think of was included. Today, we live in a world where the government wants all of the data about us it can get. Guilty or innocent, it does not matter.

The modern surveillance state is the exact reason our founding fathers incorporated the Fourth Amendment into the Bill of Rights.

In the last few years, the American people have been treated to one horror story after another that featured the abuse of citizens by our government. America is only scratching the surface of the unmasking scandal from the last year of the Obama administration. The story of the IRS abuse of citizens who dared to disagree with the government continues

Does any sane person trust giving the government more power?

Privacy, as we know it, is on the endangered species list. There are many government officials who believe that the only privacy rights Americans should have are those the government chooses to grant them.

There is an truism that says, Those who forsake liberty for security, deserve neither. As the Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Congressman Goodlatte has the power to stop this bad idea and protect the Fourth Amendment.

He needs to hear from Virginians that the government is too powerful now. He needs to hear that the government needs to stay within its bounds and allow liberty to flourish. He needs to hear that this idea should be tossed on to the ash heap of bad ideas and forever forgotten.

Congressman Goodlatte, help save the Fourth Amendment.

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Phillips: Congressman Goodlatte, Save the Fourth Amendment - Roanoke Times