The Constitution Project, an organization whose stated goal is to “promote liberty” and “safeguard America’s founding charter”, released a report critical of searches without reasonable suspicion, which has become standard operating procedure by the Department of Homeland Security.

TCP notes the long held exception to the 4th amendment during border searches…

The Fourth Amendment to the Constitution establishes the “right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures,” and dictates that a warrant must be substantiated by probable cause. There are few exceptions to this constitutional requirement for a warrant. One is for searches at the order or the functional equivalent of the border, where routine searches without probable cause have been permitted. Relying on this longstanding exception to the Fourth Amendment’s warrant requirement, federal statutes authorize customs and immigration officials to routinely search packages, baggage, merchandise, and even travelers themselves as they cross the border into the United States.

Such border searches can be conducted pursuant to these statutes without a warrant, without probable cause, and without suspicion of wrongdoing. However, these searches increasingly have been expanded beyond the original intent of the border search exception to intercept contraband, and are now used to capture volumes of private and personal information carried across the border in computers and other electronic devices.

Having the need to search your bag for contraband or bombs is one thing but seizing and searching your laptop and other electronic devices is a vast overreach by DHS.

(more…)