North Country border stop sparks ACLU lawsuit
The American Civil Liberties Union is suing the Federal government over a border stop last May at the Champlain border crossing north of Plattsburgh.
According to Pascal Abidor, a 26-year-old American citizen who studies at McGill University, he was traveling on Amtrak from Montreal to New York City, when Homeland Security agents demanded that he let them review contents of his laptop computer.
They did so without a warrant. Here’s the ACLU’s video about the encounter:
According to the Civil Liberties Union, this kind of warrantless search is common:
Documents obtained by the ACLU in response to a separate Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit for records related to the DHS policy reveal that more than 6,600 travelers, nearly half of whom are American citizens, were subjected to electronic device searches at the border between October 1, 2008 and June 2, 2010.
One wrinkle in this case — as discussed over the weekend during NPR’s “On the Media” program — is the fact that Homeland Security considers a 100-mile area south of the US-Canada border to be part of its border zone.
This means that, in theory, Homeland Security agents conducting traffic stops on North Country roads could demand to review the contents of private electronic devices without a warrant.
This latest case comes at a time when questions are already being raised in the North Country about DHS’s ability to manage free and appropriate travel across the US-Canada border without undue interference with privacy and commerce.
So what do you think? Should laptops, cell-phones and PDAs be fair game for warrantless searches at the border — and potentially across the North Country?
Comments welcome below.
Tags: st. lawrence valley
.png)
I’ve been stopped at least twice by the “Border” Patrol on Rt. 30 just south of Tupper Lake.
This is clearly an end-run around the Constitution and should not be permitted.
Lap-tops, cellphones, PDAs, etc. should all be subject for warrantless searches at the border or by the border patrol at any of their roadblocks.
No. Work for a living. Get a warrant.
The term “border” has certainly been interpreted broadly over the last few years.
I agree with Pete; NO get a warrant.
What are you people who want warrants so afraid to show?
Huh!?? Huhhhh!?????
“What are you people who want warrants so afraid to show?
Huh!?? Huhhhh!?????”
I assume that’s sarcasm, but if not, we’re afraid of an overzealous, unlawful, and unregulated police state. Something the founding fathers of this once great land also feared. Thereby leading to the creation of such things as warrants, search and seizure laws, Habeas Corpus, Miranda Rights, the Bill of Rights, etc….
I’m worried they might discover I come to this blog and don’t think highly of their methods to pry into everything. Maybe if we were allowed to search government records without a FOIL request (and then being denied access), I might be more agreeable.
My philosophy: if my government doesn’t trust me, why should I trust it?
“Thereby leading to the creation of such things as warrants, search and seizure laws, Habeas Corpus, Miranda Rights, the Bill of Rights, etc….”
Booooooorrrrrrrrriiiiiinnnnnggg.
And they still stop you in the middle of the Northway putting you at risk of death (as has happened) but it happens more often now only if Chelsea is getting married.
US and state laws generally hold that your home and vehicle can only be searched with your permission or by court order via a warrant. Obviously some of the vehicle search limitations are altered at the actual border crossings, and that has long been settled in the courts. But south of Tupper Lake village? Pretty soon it will be south of Blue Mountain Lake or south of Amsterdam. The right to privacy and protection from illegal, overly zealous searches is one of the founding principles of this country. Get the warrant!
oa, if there’s a real reason, get a warrant. otherwise, it’s none of your darn business.
Like I say, Booooorrrrriiiiing!
Don’t you watch cop shows, or read Supreme Court decisions upholding chokeholds and torture? That warrant and Constitution nonsense you defend is so yesterday. And lame. You probably don’t like body scans or Tasers, either, Brian. What’s wrong with you?