The Economist's Cookbook

Recipes For A More Free Society

  • "The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they know about what they imagine they can design."

    - F.A. Hayek

Well ... the 9th Circuit Court of appeals has done it
again. This is quite frightening. Courtesy of the DEA, of course.

They snuck onto his property in the middle of the night and found his Jeep in his driveway, a few feet from his trailer home. Then they attached a GPS tracking device to the vehicle's underside.
After Pineda-Moreno challenged the DEA's actions, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit ruled in January that it was all perfectly legal. More disturbingly, a larger group of judges on the circuit, who were subsequently asked to reconsider the ruling, decided this month to let it stand.
So we can watch you from traffic or CCTV cams, we can track you through OnStar without your consent. They can now attach a GPS to your car and watch you where ever you go.
In fact, the government violated Pineda-Moreno's privacy rights in two different ways. For starters, the invasion of his driveway was wrong. The courts have long held that people have a reasonable expectation of privacy in their homes and in the "curtilage," a fancy legal term for the area around the home. The government's intrusion on property just a few feet away was clearly in this zone of privacy.
Really? So... trespassing no longer applies to others? Or is it only okay for agents of the state when they are watching you ... the little guy?

2 Response for the "Big Brother: Welcome to the 21st Century."

  1. Oddly, I just finished reading 1984 for the first time last night. Now, today I have run into 3 references to it.
    Hmmmm. Almost makes me suspicious.
    I saw so many parallels between that book and current events it kept shocking me. Big Brother is watching us all, indeed.

  2. The Fo says:

    http://www.wric.com/Global/story.asp?s=13111531&clienttype=printable

    Ruling in Virginia just about confirmed the California ruling. Though with the case Virginia looked at the line is a bit more blurry.