your comment touches on something i often wonder about: the differences between US civil rights and the civil rights in our liberal democratic allies (e.g. Canada, the UK, France, et al).

i had no idea that in Canada of all places "cops can use evidence even if seized illegally."

i do know, however, that government censorship of the media is permissible in the UK.

there's no single definition of "democracy" across the world.

it's interesting that some in the US seem to think that, if an individual right is ever modified or restricted in the US, it means we're at "the end of democracy." while, at the same time, these very same rights are routinely restricted in other countries but we still consider those countries to be "democracies."