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The 4th Amendment to the Constitution reads: “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.”

According to the history of this country, the 4th Amendment came about because of British “General” warrant searches and seizures prior to the Revolutionary War. Soldiers would basically decide someone had an item or items that were not allowed to the citizen and could obtain a general warrant to search and seize any property deemed to be criminally possessed. This could be on your person or in your residence, your home was not your castle in that time period. John Adams wrote this into the Massachusetts Constitution, and Jefferson wrote it into the Virginia Constitution.

Standards of course do differ between an arrest and a search. An arrest can be made, for a misdemeanor if the officer witnesses the actual activity, for a felony if the officer has information that says the person is the perpetrator. However in the United States of the 21st Century it appears that the 4th amendment is pretty much dead. If I travel East from where I live less than 40 miles from my house, I will be stopped and asked if I am an US citizen, and a dog will sniff my car to be sure I am not carry contraband. That means I have been searched without probable cause, and if I refuse to answer the question about my citizenship, I am liable to be detained, physically searched and made to feel like a criminal. If I want to fly from anywhere in the US to anywhere else, I will be forced to be searched by a person who has less training than I did when I worked for the NYC PD as a Police Admin Aid. This too is unreasonable search. So the 4th Amendment is at the very least suspended under this government, and of course under the patriot act I can be observed, my phone tapped and now that drones are legal observed from the air. Even my home is no longer sacrosanct.

The government doesn’t even need probable cause to do these acts, because I live in a place where illegal activity is common place, namely people enter the country without permission and invade our property again with permission, so the government has to survale all of our property, just in case you know? BTW it doesn’t make any difference which party is in power. The Republicans passed the Patriot Act, but Obama and the Democrats have also passed it and use it too. So here we are in the American Police State. Isn’t it wonderful? I for one mourn at the passing of the 4th Amendment.

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