What's new
  • Please note members who been with us for more than 10 years have been upgraded to "Veteran" status and will receive exclusive benefits. If you wish to find out more about this or support IcMag and get same benefits, check this thread here.
  • Important notice: ICMag's T.O.U. has been updated. Please review it here. For your convenience, it is also available in the main forum menu, under 'Quick Links"!

Congress Quietly Passed A Bill Allowing Warrantless Searches of Homes

DocTim420

The Doctor is OUT and has moved on...
Once the door is opened, it can never be closed--

Source: ww.zerohedge.com/news/2017-08-26/congress-quietly-passed-bill-allowing-warrantless-searches-homes-only-1-opposed-it

(add third "w" to make link read "www.")

A bill that will allow homes to be searched without a warrant was passed with overwhelming support by the United States Congress, and signed into law by President Trump—and it happened with no media coverage and very little fanfare.

On the surface, House Joint Resolution 76 looks harmless. The title of the bill claims that its purpose is “Granting the consent and approval of Congress for the Commonwealth of Virginia, the State of Maryland, and the District of Columbia to enter into a compact relating to the establishment of the Washington Metrorail Safety Commission.”

“Whereas the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, an interstate compact agency of the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the State of Maryland, provides transportation services to millions of people each year, the safety of whom is paramount; Whereas an effective and safe Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority system is essential to the commerce and prosperity of the National Capital region; Whereas the Tri-State Oversight Committee, created by a memorandum of understanding amongst these 3 jurisdictions, has provided safety oversight of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority.”

The proposal for a safety commission to act as a wing of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority may sound logical, when its power includes thing such as the ability to “Adopt, revise, and distribute a written State Safety Oversight Program” and to “Review, approve, oversee, and enforce the adoption and implementation of WMATA’s Public Transportation Agency Safety Plan.”

However, there is one major red flag buried within the text of the bill that stems from the list of “powers” given to the Washington Metrorail Safety Commission, and it violates one of the basic tenets of the U.S. Constitution.

“In performing its duties, the Commission, through its Board or designated employees or agents, may: Enter upon the WMATA Rail System and, upon reasonable notice and a finding by the chief executive officer that a need exists, upon any lands, waters, and premises adjacent to the WMATA Rail System, including, without limitation, property owned or occupied by the federal government, for the purpose of making inspections, investigations, examinations, and testing as the Commission may deem necessary to carry out the purposes of this MSC Compact, and such entry shall not be deemed a trespass.”

The text gives the Commission the authority to enter property near the Metro Rail System “without limitation” and without a warrant, for the purpose of “making inspections, investigations, examinations, and testing.”

This clearly goes against the Fourth Amendment, which states that Americans’ rights “to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause.”

When the bill was brought to a vote in the House of Representatives, there were only five Congressmen who voted against it: Representatives Justin Amash, a Republican from Michigan; Walter Jones, a Republican from North Carolina; Thomas Massie, a Republican from Kentucky; Alex Mooney, a Republican from West Virginia; and Mark Sanford, a Republican from South Carolina.

Amash called out the hypocrisy surrounding the fact that even though this legislation is in clear violation of the Constitution, it was passed by Congress with overwhelming support. “Only 5 of us voted against bill allowing govt to enter/search private property in parts of VA, MD & DC w/o warrant,” He wrote on Twitter.

Only 5 of us voted against bill allowing govt to enter/search private property in parts of VA, MD & DC w/o warrant. https://t.co/SVhTWqbPaB

— Justin Amash (@justinamash) July 18, 2017

This is not the first time Congress has quietly passed a bill that will take away some of the most basic rights from law-abiding citizens in the U.S., and it won’t be the last. One of the most important things to remember about this legislation is that it was ignored by the media, and while it may only affect the Washington D.C. metro area now, it could be laying the blueprint for future legislation across the country.

Not to be "political", but notice the 5 that voted against the Bill are all Reps...no Dems or Indies voted against it.
 

geneva_sativa

Well-known member
Ya think we'll see any protests over this ?

Or more smoke and mirrors from the ruling class to keep the peasants fighting amongst themselves ?
 

Amynamous

Active member
This was obviously proposed and passed in the name of security. Americans need to make a choice between "security" and "freedom".
I choose freedom, and am afraid that I am in the minority.
 

DocTim420

The Doctor is OUT and has moved on...
You would think...but we are talking about a "metro" government agency--you know the folks responsible for maintaining the mass transit (bus, train, trolley, subway, etc).

Read aloud the bold words only:

Enter upon the WMATA Rail System and, upon reasonable notice and a finding by the chief executive officer that a need exists, upon any lands, waters, and premises adjacent to the WMATA Rail System, including, without limitation, property owned or occupied by the federal government, for the purpose of making inspections, investigations, examinations, and testing as the Commission may deem necessary to carry out the purposes of this MSC Compact, and such entry shall not be deemed a trespass.”

This means if you live in a building "adjacent to WMATA Rail System", your 4th Amendment Rights are forfeited (period).

The view of bureaucrat is: what is good for one agency should be good for another agency.
 

mojave green

rockin in the free world
Veteran
This was obviously proposed and passed in the name of security. Americans need to make a choice between "security" and "freedom".
I choose freedom, and am afraid that I am in the minority.

Never ceases to amaze me the freedoms mericans won't fight for. We don't deserve them if we don't fight for them!
 

St. Phatty

Active member
Does it apply to homeless people who live near the railroad tracks ?

I know the police treat them as if they have no rights anyway, BUT -
they do have rights.

Guess there's not much political payback speaking up for that demographic group.
 

resin_lung

I cough up honey oil
Veteran
I thought that was the same deal if there is a power pole between yours and your neighbors backyards.

I was told by a DWP guy that if they wanna climb up a pole, they're gonna climb up a fkn pole.lol

am I wrong in either believing this to be true or comparing it to the OP?
 

Gry

Well-known member
Anyone even remember the patriot Act ?
To be completely political, what's new.
 

DocTim420

The Doctor is OUT and has moved on...
Motive is the difference, imo.

Patriot Act was a knee jerk response to 9-11; primary motive was to protect citizens and nail the bastards that did the cowardly act. The motive here, imo, is to make the job easier for WAMTA employees, at the expense of their "customers".

I see a calamity of things in one big bundle.

First, this effects Washington DC--a "special Federal District" (not a state) where residents have zero Senate representation and are represented with just one non-voting "delegate" in the House of Representatives. LOL, talk about taxation without representation!

Second, since the Constitution gives the Congress exclusive control/jurisdiction over all matters of Washington DC--then one could argue the power/restrictions exerted on Washington DC by Congress...are examples of what Congress would like to impose on all 50 states, if only they had the "power".

Third, domino effect. What happens in one locality will spread to other localities...and expand to other agencies (monkey see...monkey do). If an unelected "chief executive officer" can decide when a private homes can be inspected (no warrant, no advance warning, no prosecution for trespass...) then how soon will it be before Child Protective Services has the same power? Or...even the agency that provides electricity. Unannounced inspections of buildings/homes of big users of electricity. Why not?

Fourth, teeter totter effect. The teeter totter is heavy on the side of deconstructing/removing Constitutional rights of CITIZENS (bureaucrats consolidating power that once belonged to their constituents). The teeter totter side that is up in the air are things like CITIZENS rights".

How do you make the light side of a teeter totter go down? Either add more weight to the light side and/or remove the excess on the heavy side. This just added more to the "heavy side" of the teeter totter.

Resin...if you buy a home with a power pole in your backyard, somewhere deep in the paperwork you will find an "easement" was granted to the utility company to access the power pole at anytime. Sometimes they will even compensate the owner making the original concession.
 

ninsega

Member
Not to be...

Not to be...

Not to be "political", but notice the 5 that voted against the Bill are all Reps...no Dems or Indies voted against it.

...then you shouldn't have said this last bit. 5 out of 240 is just 2% of Republicans. There's only 1 Independent in the entire House. The Democrats at 0% is barely less than Republicans at 2%.
 

DocTim420

The Doctor is OUT and has moved on...
Yep, but facts are facts. Zero Dems and zero Indies voted against this bill.

BTW, if I wanted to be political--I would have said "100% of all Dems voted to take away 4th Amendment Rights of Washington DC residents".....but that is not what I said.

The point is...this shit got passed without any mention or general discussion in the MSM.
 

armedoldhippy

Well-known member
Veteran
I thought that was the same deal if there is a power pole between yours and your neighbors backyards.

I was told by a DWP guy that if they wanna climb up a pole, they're gonna climb up a fkn pole.lol

am I wrong in either believing this to be true or comparing it to the OP?

you are right, you cannot stop utility workers from crossing your property to get to their worksite (said "pole"). they have a right of way. ditto water lines, gas pipelines, electric meters etc.
 
M

moose eater

And still, not long after the passage of the USA PA, it was revealed that the 'black-bag' searches of homes (absent the proper 4th Amendment delivery of an affidavit and warrant, with all the required info, was more often used against bookies, dopers and pimps/hookers than against terror suspects.

Given a tool, LEO will use it in the same way they've always used extra-legal tools; to pursue those they love to persecute, plain and simple.

Fortunately, at my home, I quietly passed a bill permitting me to operate with extreme prejudice if I should one day find anyone inside who can't give me a really quick and satisfactory answer as to what they're doing there and why.

We're not approaching fascism. We've been there for quite a long while. but folks keep on watching sit-coms and football, while Rome burns.

But they'll talk all doo-dah-day about patriotism, freedom, liberty, independence, and wave a flag on the 4th of July.. Talk about a Country that lacks significant self-awareness!! Sheesh!!

Motive is the difference, imo.

Patriot Act was a knee jerk response to 9-11; primary motive was to protect citizens and nail the bastards that did the cowardly act. The motive here, imo, is to make the job easier for WAMTA employees, at the expense of their "customers".
 

Gry

Well-known member
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]One can only guess how much money was made as Rome burned.[/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif] [/FONT]
 

St. Phatty

Active member
We're not approaching fascism. We've been there for quite a long while. but folks keep on watching sit-coms and football, while Rome burns.


or Floods.

The sad fact about that water is, it would come in real handy next time Texas has a drought. (the water that's not polluted from the petrochemical plant spills.)

But somehow America doesn't manage to connect the dots about the connection between floods and droughts.


Meanwhile, Rome built aqueducts - and they still failed.

2 of their failure points being a failing (highly diluted) currency, and a greatly over-stretched military.

Which sounds very familiar.
 

resinryder

Rubbing my glands together
Veteran
Also its worth a mention that if you live 100 miles inland from a US border, Canada, Mexico, Atlantic, Pacific, you also have no rights regarding 4th amendment protections. This is how they were able to remove people from their home, some times at gun point, without a warrant in Boston when they were looking for the Boston Marathon bombers.
 
Top