Thursday, April 29, 2010

Unreasonable Search and Seizure

FOURTH AMENDMENT
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.

http://www.gpoaccess.gov/constitution/pdf/con015.pdf

What makes Arizona SB 1070 different from what is going on in America everyday?

Does Law Enforcement not have the authority to reasonably search and seize property already? Get pulled over with an open container in your auto,see what happens. Tell a cop or let him find a loaded weapon in the car, see what that will get you. The Federal Drug Enforcement Agency has plain clothes agents stationed in the airports to stop the flow of drugs . Airline ticket agents work closely with these enforcers.

There is a air travel profile which if you fit it, will get you an interview and a property seizure, even if you are not arrested by the DEA.

Case in point- the profile Traveler A is making a same day round trip flight to known points of entry for illegal narcotics. When paying for said ticket, a cash payment is made to the airline ticketing agent.

There is a story I read about, where the "traveler" was attempting to pay with cash, for a one day visit round trip ticket, to a city in the southern part of the country. The destination and return flights were actually only separated by a few hours, not a very long visit if you will.

The airline ticketing agent made a judgement call, the "traveller" fit the D.E.A. profile she had been trained to be alert for, so she contacted the airport DEA detail. They detained the person of interest, searched him and discovered he was carrying about $20,000 in cash. Even though the suspect was not carrying drugs, rather the cash to facilitate a drug deal, that money was seized. The suspect claimed he was going to make a payment for a yard tools inventory purchase for his business. Even though he was not arrested, his money was confiscated, and he was told to file a lawsuit to reclaim it. He was unable to provide a sufficient explanation in his lawsuit so the money in question was permanently confiscated by the DEA.

There is a difference between unreasonable and reasonable search and seizure. Our nation is under an invasion by the illegals to our south and while we also fight a domestic drug war, many of these same illegals are a party to.

Arizona is proposing to fight the invasion the same way the DEA a federal agency has fought the drug war for several years now.

Steve

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