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I have prepared a new version of the Bill of Rights Status Report that
I posted previously. This version, appended to this message, includes
a good deal of new information and is annotated with over 40 sources.
The version that follows is plain text, without bold or italics. The
Postscript version is much nicer. Send mail if you would like me to
send or post the Postscript. (I might also send physical copies to a
limited number of people; send mail if you would like one.)
Eric Postpischil
edp@jareth.enet.dec.com
24 September 1990
Introduction
How many rights do you have? You should check, because it might
not be as many today as it was a few years ago, or even a few
months ago. Some people I talk to are not concerned that police
will execute a search warrant without knocking or that they set
up roadblocks and stop and interrogate innocent citizens. They
do not regard these as great infringements on their rights. But
when you put current events together, there is information that
may be surprising to people who have not yet been concerned: The
amount of the Bill of Rights that is under attack is alarming.
Amendment I
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___________________
[4] Roger Cohen, "Judge Halts Publication of Book by Ex-Israeli
Intelligence Agent," New York Times, 13 September 1990, sec.
port to Neidorf.
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[8] Barlow.
[9] Ibid.
[10] Dan Donovan and Ellen Perlmutter, "Teens Say Drug Tactics
[11] Ibid.
4
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Amendment II
___________________
[12] House of Representatives, House Resolution 4079, 101st
20.
5
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Amendment III
___________________
[14] Eric Brazil, "Troops Raid Humboldt Pot Farms," San Francisco
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private land with M-16s and barred them from their own prop-
erty.[15] This might not be a direct hit on the third amendment,
but the disregard for private property is uncomfortably close.
Amendment IV
___________________
[15] "Bush League Weed Busters Invade California," California NORML (circa
5 August 1990). California NORML is an independent affiliate of
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The two items immediately above both apply to the warrant the
Hudson, New Hampshire, police used when they broke down Bruce
Lavoie's door at 5 a.m. with guns drawn and shot and killed him.
The warrant claimed information from an anonymous informant,
and it said, among other things, that any guns found were to be
seized.[19] Although there was no reason to suspect Bruce Lavoie
___________________
[18] Don Bell, "Supreme Court Dictatorship in America," The CDL
Report 129, June 1990, quoting the text of the bill as printed
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had guns, the mention of guns in the warrant was used as reason
to enter with guns drawn. Bruce Lavoie had no guns. Bruce Lavoie
was not secure from unreasonable search and seizure - nor is
anybody else.
Amendment V
___________________
[20] Jerry Thomas, "Police Sweep of Gangs Deemed a Success," Boston
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___________________
[22] Amy Swanson, "Libertarian Activist in Northwest Victim of
Bennett's Drug War," Libertarian Party News 5, no. 3 (March
1990).
[23] "2d Trial Opens in Preschool Molestation Case," New York
11 July 1990, 1.
[25] Carolyn Magnuson, "Caplin Shadows Barnaby Trial," Nashua Telegraph,
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___________________
[26] "Say Goodnight, Mr. Walsh," Review & Outlook, Wall Street
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___________________
[28] James Bouvard, "Honesty May Not Be Your Best Census Policy,"
49-50.
[30] Sullum.
[31] Jon Nordheimer, "Tighter Federal Drug Dragnet Yields Cars,
Boats and Protests," New York Times, 22 May 1988, sec. A, 1
and 16.
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Amendment VI
___________________
[32] Sandra Sardella, "ACLU Says Farrakhan, Stallings Can Attend
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Of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been
committed: This is incredible, but Manuel Noriega is being tried
so far away from the place where he is alleged to have committed
crimes that the United States had to invade another country
and overturn a government to get him. Nor is this a unique
occurrence; in a matter separate from the jury tampering, Judge
Rafeedie had to dismiss charges against Mexican gynecologist
Dr. Humberto Alvarez Machain on the grounds that the doctor was
illegally abducted from his Guadalajara office in April 1990 and
turned over to US authorities.[34]
___________________
[34] "Order to Return Doctor to Mexico Appealed," Chicago Tribune
May 1990).
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___________________
[37] "Reagan Fighting a Subpoena," New York Times, 3 January 1990,
sec. A, 16.
[38] Philip Shenon, "North Subpoenas Face Fight by White House," New
14 January 1989, 1.
[40] David Johnston, "Trial of North Stalled Again; Defense Moves for
12 July 1990.
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Amendment VII
___________________
[42] "Lawyers Squeezed Over Cash Clients," Associated Press (circa
8 March 1990).
[43] Library of Congress Legislative Reference Service, The Con-
stitution of the United States of America: Analysis and
Interpretation, edited by Johnny H. Killian and Leland E.
Beck, 99th Congress, 1st session, 1987, Senate document 99-16,
1376.
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Amendment VIII
___________________
[45] Ibid.
[46] "Ex-inmates Take Issue with Jail Cell Fees," Insight (16 April
1990): 55.
17
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Amendment IX
___________________
[48] Mark Curriden, "Man Gets Life for $20 Sale of Cocaine," At-
Cases, 5th ed. (New York: Cornell University Press, 1973): 518.
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Amendment X
___________________
[55] Ibid.
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Summary
Out of ten amendments, all are under attack. All of the indi-
vidual parts of each amendment are threatened. Many of them are
under multiple attacks of different natures. If this much of the
Bill of Rights is threatened, how can you be sure your rights
are safe? A right has to be there when you need it. Like insur-
ance, you cannot afford to wait until you need it and then set
about procuring it or ensuring it is available. Assurance must
be made in advance.
The bottom line here is that your rights are not safe. You do
not know when one of your rights will be violated. A number
of rights protect accused persons, and you may think it is not
important to protect the rights of criminals. But if a right
is not there for people accused of crimes, it will not be there
when you need it. With the Bill of Rights in the sad condition
described above, nobody can be confident they will be able
to exercise the rights to which they are justly entitled. To
preserve our rights for ourselves in the future, we must defend
them for everybody today.
___________________
[56] "States Lose Suit on the Guard's Latin Missions," New York
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