By Chuck Baldwin
May 26, 2011
NewsWithViews.com

So many of the words and warnings delivered by America's Founding Fathers are appropriate for today. Consider this sage counsel from America's first and greatest President, George Washington: "Government is not reason; it is not eloquence; it is force! Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master." I was reminded of these words when I read the following report out of the State of Indiana.

"Overturning a common law dating back to the English Magna Carta of 1215, the Indiana Supreme Court [ISC] ruled Thursday [May 12, 2011] that Hoosiers have no right to resist unlawful police entry into their homes.

"In a 3-2 decision, Justice Steven David writing for the court said if a police officer wants to enter a home for any reason or no reason at all, a homeowner cannot do anything to block the officer's entry."

Justice Robert Rucker and Justice Brent Dickson dissented from the ruling, saying the court's decision violates the Fourth Amendment of the US Constitution.

"In my view the majority sweeps with far too broad a brush by essentially telling Indiana citizens that government agents may now enter their homes illegally-that is, without the necessity of a warrant, consent or exigent circumstances," Rucker said.

The NW Indiana Times also reported, "This is the second major Indiana Supreme Court ruling this week involving police entry into a home.

"On Tuesday, the court said police serving a warrant may enter a home without knocking if officers decide circumstances justify it. Prior to that ruling, police serving a warrant would have to obtain a judge's permission to enter without knocking."

See the report here.

Shortly after the ISC decision, Newton County Sheriff Donald Hartman, Sr. said he believes the ruling makes house-to-house searches possible. According to a report at Infowars.com, Sheriff Hartman "made it clear that he would use random house to house searches if he believed it was necessary."

The Infowars.com report also correctly notes that it was years of illegal searches and seizures and seizures of the American colonists (along with the attempt to seize the colonists' firearms) that led our forebears to resist the British government with force on April 19, 1775, at Lexington Green and Concord Bridge which ignited America's War for Independence.

See the report here.

It may be helpful at this point to rehearse the Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution. "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, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."

With this ruling, the ISC effectively told the citizens of the State of Indiana that the Fourth Amendment is null and void in their State. And Sheriff Donald Hartman has effectively said that he will treat the citizens of Newton County in much the same way that King George treated America's colonists--or the way Stalin's or Mao's police treated the enslaved subjects of the former Soviet Union and Communist China.

And what is also disturbing is the way government, at every level, seems unwilling to police itself.

The reason the US Constitution limited the jurisdiction and authority of the federal government and left states with their own jurisdiction and (broader) authority was to serve as a check and balance against the tyrannical tendencies of the central government. Today, however, acts of tyranny seem to be taking place as frequently on the State and local levels as it is at the federal level. This story out of the Hoosier State is only the latest example.

Does anyone find it more than interesting (and even paradoxical) that while the US military is being used more and more as international policemen, local and State law enforcement personnel are often being used more and more like military troops (and taking on the appearance, procedures, and tactics of military troops)?

Read more here:  http://www.newswithviews.com/baldwin/baldwin650.htm