Law enforcement groups have asked the US Senate to require
wireless carriers to store text messages for up to two years citing a current
lack of federal requirement to do so, "can hinder law enforcement
investigations". Congress is in discussions now over updating a 1986
privacy law for the cloud computing era. Using an argument like "can
hinder law enforcement" to force the changing of laws to suit them would
be setting an eerie precedent, were would it all end? Once we start down that
road anything in the future law
enforcement deems "hinders law enforcement" could be deemed illegal?
In drafting one of the most unique and important documents
of modern times, our constitution, the founding fathers put great emphasizes on
both protecting our personal rights and limiting the power of the federal
government. The 9th Amendment..
"The enumeration in the
Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage
others retained by the people."
As
part of the "Bill of Rights" supreme court justices have long used it
as the binding authority in protecting the right to privacy, the right to
travel, and the presumption of innocence. Taken with the 10th amendment...
"The powers not delegated to
the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are
reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."
States
have used this amendment for years to argue that the federal government does
not have rights beyond what is granted it in the constitution. The supreme
court has ruled laws unconstitutional for violating the 10th amendment when the
federal government compels states to enforce federal statutes. The founding
fathers in writing the constitution, a document that had stood the test of time,
knew the importance of protecting one's privacy and limiting the power of the
government but what would they say now?
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