Al Franken Reads the 4th Amendment to Justice Department Official
Just in case he wasn’t familiar with it, Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) decided to read the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution to David Kris, assistant attorney general of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, who was testifying to the Senate Judiciary Committee today to urge reauthorization of expiring provisions of the USA Patriot Act.
Franken, who opened by acknowledging that unlike most of his colleagues in the Senate, he’s not a lawyer, but according to his research “most Americans aren’t lawyers” either, said he’d also done research on the Patriot Act and in particular, the “roving wiretap” provision that allows the FBI to get a warrant to wiretap a an unnamed target and his or her various and changing cell phones, computers and other communication devices.
Noting that he received a copy of the Constitution when he was sworn in as a Senator, he proceeded to read it to Kris, emphasizing this part: “no Warrants shall issue but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”
Yeah, I hope everyone starts to get this:
Maybe even the “tea party people” will read their constitutions and put it together. I heard Chaffetz on KSL today, amd even he is starting to ‘get it’.
The DOJ official was clearly nonplussed. Who knew there was anybody in the U.S. Senate who actually reads and understands the Bill of Rights?
Chaffetz ‘got it,’ too. Hopefully the TSA pissed off the wrong guy. He needs to bring the heat, now he knows what the rest of us go through. He follows through on this and I will vote for him for the rest of my life.
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705332053/Chaffetz-chafes-over-search.html