Thursday, April 05, 2012
Strip Searching the Supreme Court
At least five justices seem to have no understanding of the Fourth and Eighth Amendments to the Constitution, at the very least. Their outrageous decision in Florence is another important piece in the construction of the American police state.
Welcome to the United Socialist State Republic of America (as Nouriel Roubini termed it), where things are run for the benefit of police and jail administrators, mercantilistic financiers, politicians, bureaucrats, and the rest of the politically connected. Today anyone could be legally strip searched, repeatedly, without any charges or even probable cause... and have no recourse at all.
If only we could require SCOTUS to do empirical research before they make their decisions. Justices Kennedy, Thomas, Alito, Roberts, and Scalia all needed a good deep, careful inspection so that they could understand what they were voting on. Ironically, these are the same justices that constituted the majority in "Heller." When the police come to strip search the innocent, at least the innocent can be legally armed. I really do not follow the reasoning of these justices... strict interpretation of the Constitution at intermittent intervals? Citizens' United and Heller both strictly defend the rights of the individual against the state; Florence refuses to even consider there might be a limit on police power on citizens' behalf.
Tom Ashbrook had a great discussion of Florence today. Ugh.
Welcome to the United Socialist State Republic of America (as Nouriel Roubini termed it), where things are run for the benefit of police and jail administrators, mercantilistic financiers, politicians, bureaucrats, and the rest of the politically connected. Today anyone could be legally strip searched, repeatedly, without any charges or even probable cause... and have no recourse at all.
If only we could require SCOTUS to do empirical research before they make their decisions. Justices Kennedy, Thomas, Alito, Roberts, and Scalia all needed a good deep, careful inspection so that they could understand what they were voting on. Ironically, these are the same justices that constituted the majority in "Heller." When the police come to strip search the innocent, at least the innocent can be legally armed. I really do not follow the reasoning of these justices... strict interpretation of the Constitution at intermittent intervals? Citizens' United and Heller both strictly defend the rights of the individual against the state; Florence refuses to even consider there might be a limit on police power on citizens' behalf.
Tom Ashbrook had a great discussion of Florence today. Ugh.
