Fourth Amendment

A reminder, from Mark Fitzgibbons, that we are a nation of laws, and how the supposed guardian of the laws -- our government -- increasingly treats those laws with contempt.

Federal, state, and local law enforcement have crossed into dangerous territory, thanks to asset forfeitutre laws. They now take more from the public than criminals do:

We've written a great deal about the federal government's abuse of our Fourth Amendment rights through its repeated use of warrantless searches. Now we learn the abuses reach beyond the usual suspects -- the NSA, FBI, and CIA -- and include the IRS:

Legislation on email privacy is making its way through congress">Congress. Government agencies are against it, and some privacy advocates are for it.

Federal agencies have shown a shocking eagerness to use administrative subpoenas -- search warrants that do not require a judge's approval. These subpoenas subvert the Fourth Amendment. According to this item from the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the tide may be turning, just a bit, against government snoops:

The federal government's increasing use of subpoenas without first getting a warrant -- let alone asking a judge to consider the matter -- is generating a lot of pushback from civil libertarians and conservatives. And rightly so. The fed's latest targets are private medical records:

The National Security Agency's various intelligence programs (otherwise known as "spying") have generated a lot of commentary recently. But an agency like NSA doesn't just pop-up of its own accord. It's created by politicians who have a certain political philosophy and world view.

Is the content of your emails private? It's not a question regarding the strength of your email account's password. Instead, we're referring to a bill moving through congress">Congress that would update the nation's email privacy laws. Right now, critics charge the protections are flimsy and must be strengthened.

We have written extensively on the multiple threats government at all levels poses to the Fourth Amendment. But some readers have asked us: why should conservatives care?