"Constitution Free Zone"

[rforsythe]

I don't think the ACLU generally spreads BS... This is an interesting if not scary read about civil rights being stripped. I haven't done any research beyond this article, so if anyone else has anything that supports or contradicts it I'd like to read it.

The article:
http://www.aclu.org/privacy/37293res20081022.html

Spooky visual aid:
http://www.aclu.org/privacy/spying/a...nfreezone.html

[DanFZ1]

Give me a place to stand and I will move the Earth.
~ Archimedes

(Just so long as it is not on the east coast or the west coast or anywhere along the Canadian border or the border with Mexico or the Great Lakes or Chicago.)

Thomas Paine (1737-1809)
American Author and Revolutionary
The Rights of Man
Part the Second, 1792
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

FREE

KEVIN

Kevin Mitnick served five years in prison without a trial simply because he refused a plea bargin. Restitution for his crimes against humanity totaled $4,125.

( Wow, that must have really been some crime, huh? )

{ If you use a computer
__Then you live in a constitution free zone
End If }

[merlin]

I'll have to look into this too- Make an interesting research project.

I know of a border patrol checkpoint a few miles (15, maybe?) outside El Paso Texas across I-10 where you are stopped and asked for ID. I wasn't aware that the "authority" to do shit like that extended 100 miles- that certainly seems a bit silly to me on a lot of levels. I can see the justifications (put your checkpoints outside a "reasonable" distance from the border, and you'll catch people after they've relaxed and let their guard down) but arbitrary searches are a bad thing, period. Tex-Ass is famous for them- there was a DPS (State Troopers) task force that was tasked with drug interdiction right around the time I left that would pull people over pretty much at random and search their cars. Bush Jr. put that in place, actually (he was Governor at the time). Didn't last long before they got sued enough to pull the plug on the program, but it did piss a lot of people off. I got searched about once a week growing up, once I started driving... but then again I was a young male dressed in all black, with long LONG hair driving a sports car, and it was a rural area in the deep South. You have to expect to get hassled.

Last time I was through the El Paso checkpoint I showed them my passport when they asked for ID, just so I could say I had been required to show a passport to enter Texas....

Merlyn

[TFOGGuys]

Then you add this:

Border laptop searches and seizures legal

[rforsythe]

Then you add this:

Border laptop searches and seizures legal

Yeah, knew about that. When I went to Korea I actually took pretty extensive means to eliminate what I had with me, and encrypt and obfuscate the hell out of what I couldn't do without. Given what I do for a living, despite the fact that it's all above board, the presence of certain materials on my laptop which are necessary for my profession might give unintelligent but nosy TSA/Customs agents a moment of pause.

That said, the law about border laptop S&S is in flux right now. One judge ruled that you can't be required to give up an encryption password, so while they might seize and copy your information, your fourth amendment rights protect the secrecy of your data (assuming they don't brute force the password on their own). I believe another ruling said they can only keep your equipment for 24 hours before it has to be returned; that said, they will just copy the drive (and any portable drives, USB keys, camera cards, etc) bit for bit and give it back to you as though nothing happened anyway, so it's irrelevant.

My best advice here is don't travel with any electronic information that might even give the appearance of impropriety. If you move it off your laptop, securely wipe the files (this does not mean dragging it to the trash can). Better yet, never save it to your laptop in the first place, which is easier said than done since it likely created a temp file. Use encrypted swap space. Make your electronic life as untraceable as possible.

It may sound like paranoia, but then again they ARE searching you without due cause, so why make it easy for them.

[TFOGGuys]

Makes me want to encrypt about 18 hours of 3 Stooges video, and label the file "Reactor specs"........ then set it up with a 4096 bit random key....fuckers.....

[PhL0aTeR]

I experienced, first hand, the "Border" patrol checkpoints when i was doing some work in Texas this past year.

I'm contracted by a company that provides transportation for individuals that cant transport themselves, for whatever reason... Anyway, I had a long day driving from San Angelo to Del Rio to pick up the client, then to San Antonio for his appointment, then back to Del Rio to drop him off, then back to San Angelo.

On my last leg of the trip I was stopped by the border patrol on one of their inland checkpoints, keep in mind, i already passed one checkpoint when i was going from Del Rio to San Antonio earlier in the day, without hassle... Well this time was different, I was told to move my vehicle to the side, step out, etc... They went through my vehicle with a fine tooth comb, all the while claiming it was training for the dog. I had been up since 5am and it was about 11ish that night, so i was tired and annoyed with the search, nonetheless i tried to be cool and make small talk, noting that I had worked for DHS for a few years, etc. When the overzealous officer that initiated the search got done crawling around in my car with his dog he gave me the 3rd degree, asking me if i had ever been arrested for narcotics, have i ever transported narcotics, etc... then he told me that my Durango had been modified to include a "void" in the floor as he called it, and told me that "I don't know how to access it, but its hollow and its used for smuggling drugs" At this point my patience was running very thin and if he hadn't let me go, id have blown my top. my vehicle was left in a state of disarray, from the floor mats to the 3rd row seat they left up. They did, however put the 2nd row seat back down, effectively pinching through the insulation in my amp wires that blew a few fuses. I use my center console as a trash can, and they left the contents of that all over the floor and passenger seat... Needless to say, they wasted 30 min of my time, lied about what they were doing, never actually notified me of a search, and basically accused me of running drugs.

Sometimes people ask me why i dont have kids.... I simply reply, "In this country? Seriously?"