Russ Feingold: “I have no desire to take the floor away from the Senator from Pennsylvania, but back where I live, when the Government…”

“I have no desire to take the floor away from the Senator from Pennsylvania, but back where I live, when the Government comes into your home and you do not know they have been rummaging around in your house and you find out 7 days later that they did this, you are upset. If you do not find out for 30 days, where I come from that is not a scintilla; that is a big deal. The U.S. Government coming into your house without giving you notice, as people expect under the fourth amendment, is not a triviality. It is at the very core of one of the most important provisions of the Bill of Rights. I am not sure I am, in the end, even comfortable with this concept of a sneak and peek search. I think it has been demonstrated it may be needed in some cases, but why in the world can't a judge have to renew that every 7 days? It is not a matter of trivia to the people of my State that the Government can come into their house without notice under the fourth amendment. And I reject the idea that it is a minor difference between 7 and 30 days.”