Legislation to stop US border agents from demanding passwords is on the way | Hacker News Reader

Legislation to stop US border agents from demanding passwords is on the way

techcrunch.com

56 pointsJoshTriplett12 comments

I stopped reading after "In a letter to Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, Oregon Senator Ron Wyden called ..."

Unless it's sponsored or at least co-signed by a republican it ain't going anywhere.

Pretty clear what republicans think of the constitution. Which is in diametric opposition to what they say.

This policy started under Barack Obama. He could have squashed it via Executive Order if he wanted to. Thanks, try again.

https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2016/06/23/2016-14...

Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't this a situation where they shouldn't need more legislation but rather, Government employees should already be following pre-existing law?

My understanding is that the Border is not technically U.S. soil and as such the normal laws don't apply there.

We need a movement to make borders a part of the normal legal system. It's stupid to have this no man's land bullshit in the civilized world. It's uncivilized.

US citizens do not presently have to unlock anything or answer any questions to be granted entry after proving citizenship.

Correct but their devices can be confiscated

The border is a line and lines have no area, so it's not soil at all.

What you mean is the doctrine that states that some of the protections offered by the US constitution do not apply near the border. That doesn't mean the law does not apply.

I thought it was already plainly addressed in the constitution.

It's not; "unreasonable" is pretty vague language, and what is reasonable in the course of border crossing inspections is hotly debated.

Very little in the constitution could be described as "plain." Most of it was as broad and ambiguous at the time it was written as it is today.

Rather than hoping justices read the tea leaves the same way you do, clarifying the law with statues to protect our liberties is a good strategy.

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