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A Stitch in Haste

A Stitch in Time Saves Nine … But Haste Makes Waste

A collection of real-world libertarian, individualist and laissez-faire rants on law, economics, politics, culture and other current events
by an average, everyday lawyer & investment banker and part-time pop scholar.


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Entries Tagged as 'Fourth Amendment'

We Must Be Winning the War on Terror…

March 9th, 2009 · Comments Off

…because the government is crafting a new excuse to shred our online privacy rights.

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Tags: First Amendment - Speech · Fourth Amendment · Law Enforcement Abuses · Privacy Issues · Terror v. Civil Liberties

On the "Abort Obama" Incident

March 1st, 2009 · Comments Off

There was a bit of blogospheric buzz over whether "abort" is synonymous with "assassinate" (it's not), but that debate misses the point.

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Tags: First Amendment - Speech · Fourth Amendment · Law Enforcement Abuses · Privacy Issues

Kids in Cuffs: 14-Year Old Girl Arrested for Texting in Class

February 20th, 2009 · Comments Off

Are teachers these days really such weaselly wimps that they must call the cops to subdue every smart-aleck (but utterly harmless) brat?

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Tags: Fourth Amendment · Law Enforcement Abuses · Student Rights

When "Reasonable Suspicion" Becomes "Any Suspicion"

February 12th, 2009 · 1 Comment

I'm of course not defending sniff dogs — not even close.

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Tags: Fourth Amendment · Law Enforcement Abuses · Privacy Issues · Property Rights

Kids in Cuffs: 8-Year Old Aspie Charged With Battery

February 9th, 2009 · Comments Off

For (sometimes literally) crying out loud, leave the cuffs in the holster and keep 8-year old kids out of Central Booking.

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Tags: Fourth Amendment · Law Enforcement Abuses · Student Rights

"There Will Always Be Criminals"?

January 19th, 2009 · 3 Comments

A response to David Freddoso's silly defense of the War on Drugs.

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Tags: Fourth Amendment · Law Enforcement Abuses · Privacy Issues

Linkfest: Supreme Court Roundup

January 17th, 2009 · Comments Off

Strip searches of students; the 14-year old "terrorist" sent to Guantanamo; the "Barney Fife" exception to the exclusionary rule.

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Tags: Fourth Amendment · Law Enforcement Abuses · Privacy Issues · Student Rights

If You Need "Rights," Then You Don't Deserve Them?

December 30th, 2008 · 1 Comment

This Oregon drug case is not one for the ages. I wanted to highlight it, however, if for no other reason than for the sheer purity of its lesson.

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Tags: Fourth Amendment · Law Enforcement Abuses · Privacy Issues

"Border Search" Policy Should Not Rest with Congress

December 8th, 2008 · 1 Comment

To review: Federal courts, including the Supreme Court, have crafted a plenary "border exception" to the Fourth Amendment. Bootstrapping long-obsolete doctrines about shipping, tariffs and contraband, the courts deferred as the government exploited one of the greatest loopholes in the Bill of Rights: the idea that only "unreasonable" searches and seizures are proscribed, and that [...]

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Tags: Fourth Amendment · Law Enforcement Abuses · Privacy Issues

D.C. to Commence NYC-Inspired Worthless Subway Searches

November 2nd, 2008 · Comments Off

The District of Columbia's subway bureaucracy has announced that it will commence warrantless, suspicionless searches at subway entrances:
The program is modeled after one begun three years ago in New York that has withstood legal challenges. However, experts said it is difficult to measure the effectiveness of such searches, beyond assuring the public that police are [...]

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Tags: Fourth Amendment · Law Enforcement Abuses · New York City & State · Privacy Issues · Terror v. Civil Liberties · Updates