Our state Supreme Court just ruled that the Constitution requires police to obtain the consent of the man or woman of the house before entering and searching a home, and our county’s chief deputy prosecutor calls this a “blow to law enforcement”? As if that’s a bad thing.
Excuse me, but isn’t that the point? Our founding fathers drafted the Constitution with the express purpose to protect the rights and freedoms of citizens against the excesses of government power. The Constitution itself is probably the greatest blow to law enforcement ever created.
No doubt King George would have objected to not being able to send British troops into private homes throughout the colonies at his discretion. And he would likely have decried such things as free speech and due process of law as imminent threats to his ability to govern and protect the British Empire.
Oh, the outrage! How dare those ignorant colonists suggest that the world’s greatest superpower has anything other than their own best interests at heart.
As a proud American and Washingtonian I cherish the rights and freedoms afforded by our Constitution. I embrace limits on government power, especially when they result in increased respect for my own personal privacy and liberty. In times like this I am grateful for the strength and wisdom of our independent judiciary to beat back an erosion of our constitutional rights. I could not disagree more with the deputy prosecutor’s characterization of this court ruling as a “step in the wrong direction.”
Adam J. Yanasak
Attorney at Law
Everett
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