Ted Poe: “Governments, militaries, and civilizations sometimes ignore history to justify their actions against individuals. A bit…”

“Governments, militaries, and civilizations sometimes ignore history to justify their actions against individuals. A bit of history is important here. When the British controlled the Colonies, they heavily taxed the Colonies. Citizens had to pay a tax on goods they brought in to the Colonies. The Colonies had no say on the imposition of those taxes. That is another issue. The King issued writs of assistance. What that was was a piece of paper allowing the British military to go into businesses and homes, unreasonably, to search to see if the Colonies were paying the tax on imported goods. For example, John Hancock was a merchant. They would search his business to see if he had a tax stamp on the rum he brought the Colonies. The right of privacy and the right to say something about your taxes were two reasons for the American Revolution that came about. The right of privacy is a natural right, as Thomas Jefferson said, one of the rights given to us by our Creator. So, our ancestors wrote the Fourth Amendment, unique to the United States, and here is what it says: ``The right of the people 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, supported by oath or affirmation''--that means the officer has to swear to it--``and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized''--Fourth Amendment.…”