Did you think that the fourth amendment was still protecting you? There are many of us that disagree with the Patriot Act, and one quote comes to mind…
“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” Benjamin Franklin
The 4th amendment was put into place for a reason, and the House has rejected a bill to end warrant-less searches.
Washington, D.C. ─
Only four days after a man previously under FBI surveillance carried out the worst massacre in recent years at an Orlando nightclub, U.S. lawmakers have once again rejected efforts to end warrantless government spying.
A bill proposed by Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA, 19th) and Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY, 4th) to end warrantless surveillance was to be added to the $576 billion defense spending bill for 2017.
In addition to ending warrantless spying, the proposed bill would have made it illegal for the U.S. government to force software companies like Google and Apple to program “backdoors” in their products, thereby granting government agencies easier access to private user data.
The bill lost the House vote 198-222.
Interestingly enough, nearly identical amendments were previously proposed by Lofgren and Massie, and two of them actually passed in 2014 and 2015. But in both of these instances, the amendment failed to become official law.
Before the amendment was voted down, Thomas Massie said in a statement:
“Unfortunately, proponents of warrantless surveillance mischaracterized our legislation and its bearing on the investigation in Orlando. Our amendment merely reasserts the constitutional requirement that the government have probable cause and a warrant, both of which are easily obtainable in the case of Omar Mateen.”
Read more here