19 May 2000. Thanks to WW, DF and BD.
Source: Interesting People (IP) List.
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Fourth Amendment Sneak Attack
Reno's outrageous Secret Searches measure.
By Dave Kopel, of the Independence Institute
The Reno Department of Justice is very good at being sneaky. The DOJ's
lobbyists are on the verge of successfully sneaking into law a provision
which will authorize federal agents to stealthily enter people's homes,
search the homes, and not tell anyone.
The Secret Searches measure is so outrageous that it would have no chance of
being enacted as a bill on its own, when subjected to public scrutiny and
debate. So instead, the DOJ has nestled the Secret Search item deep inside a
long bill dealing with methamphetimines. The measure is further disguised
with the innocuous title of "Notice Clarification."
Subject to virtually no public discussion, the Secret Searches item has
already passed the Senate, hidden inside the methamphetimine giant S. 486.
Next week, the House Judiciary Committee will take up H.R. 2987, the House
version of the Senate bill, which also contains the buried clause on Secret
Searches (section 301). The federal bankruptcy reform bill (which has passed
both houses, and is currently in a conference committee) likewise has the
hidden Secret Searches language.
If the Secret Searches provision became law, it would apply to all searches
conducted by the federal government, not just searches involving
methamphetimines or bankruptcy.
When conducting searches, federal agents are currently required to announce
their presence before entering, and to provide an inventory of any items they
take. Because the person whose home or business is being searched knows
about the search, he can exercise his Fourth Amendment rights, and make sure
that the police have a properly-issued search warrant. He can also see if
the search is being conducted according to the warrant's terms i.e., the
police are searching only for items authorized by the warrant, they are
searching the right address, etc.
But under a Secret Searches law, federal police could enter a person's home
surreptitiously, conduct a search, and not tell the homeowner until months
later.
Even months later, the police would not have to provide an inventory of
"intangible" items which were taken in a search. So if the police entered
your home secretly, and photocopied your diary or made a copy of your
computer hard disk, they would never have to inform you of their actions.
Should the Secret Searches item be deleted from the methamphetimine and
bankruptcy bills, it is likely that Clinton will try to sneak the item into a
gigantic budget bill, during the Congressional Republicans' annual fall
appropriations surrender. Take note: In a previous Congress, Clinton was
able to obtain authority for warrantless wiretaps which had been defeated
after public debate earlier in the year by hiding the authority in the year's
omnibus budget bill.
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