An article today in the Baltimore Sun made me imagine our 'heightened alert' in the war on terror is becoming a slow slide into a police state. Don't get me wrong, we ought to protect our country from would be terrorists or criminals - but how far do we go?Customs Agents can seize a laptop for 'random inspection'. They keep it for a couple of weeks, comb through it and return it. Sounds reasonable if you don't need it for work or don't want people reading your personal emails. Except for me, it's not reasonable.
The refrain - "if you don't have anything to hide you shouldn't worry" - worries me. Somehow in the name of freedom we've been asked to give up our freedoms....
If only we had some sort of legal protection.... Something like, oh I don't know... a Constitutional Amendment?
Amendment 4 - Search and Seizure. Ratified 12/15/1791.
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.
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