Orrin Hatch: “But in this case, she held that the privacy right to stop the police operating on a tip from looking over a fence making…”

“But in this case, she held that the privacy right to stop the police operating on a tip from looking over a fence making sure there was marijuana there and then going and getting a lawful search warrant. That bothers me quite a bit. Justice Barkett has also written opinions striking down narrowly drawn laws that ban loitering for the purpose of prostitution and drug dealing. Think about that. These opinions are badly flawed and misapply precedent. Moreover, they seriously disable communities from preventing harmful crime. Keep in mind as I am discussing these matters that she is appointed by a President who is claiming that he is going to be as tough on crime as anybody in history while at the same time his Office of Management and Budget is cutting criminal law enforcement by leaps and bounds and at the same time he is appointing judges like this one to higher positions in the Federal court system where they can decide opinions that may never be decided by the Supreme Court to become followed by other circuits and by other people who at least in this case--and I believe we will find others--are really soft on crime. This bothers me a lot. In my view, there are too many other instances where she unjustifiably construed criminal statutes in favor of criminals.”